MEDCS / Department of Curriculum Studies and Education Management

MEd / Department of Educational Management / See the attached abstract below

DNUR / Sexual and reproductive health services include family-planning or contraception, pre-natal care, safe births and post-natal care, safe and accessible post-abortion care and where legal, access to safe abortion services, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections and cervical cancers, sexual health information, and counselling. Adolescents face many sexual and reproductive health risks, ranging from teenage pregnancy, early unprotected sex, and sexually transmitted infections. Every year one in twenty young people worldwide contracts sexually transmitted infections, and currently, fifty percent of HIV infections occur in young people aged 15-24 years. Teenage pregnancy is at alarming rate among school girls. The overall aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health programme for secondary school learners in Capricorn and Mopani Districts of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Three objectives which guided programme development were: 1. to assess the knowledge of secondary school learners about SRH issues, 2. to assess teachers’ views about the impact of the existing SRH programmes for adolescents and 3. to explore the perceptions of parents towards the provision of SRH services in schools. Sequential mixed methods approach was used where the initial quantitative phase was followed by qualitative phase. Three steps were used as the basis for developing the programme. Step 1 used quantitative descriptive survey to assess the knowledge of learners about sexual and reproductive health issues. Step 2 also used quantitative descriptive survey to assess teachers’ views about the impact of the existing sexual and reproductive health programmes provided in schools. An exploratory qualitative method was used in step 3 to explore the perceptions of parents towards the provision of sexual and reproductive health services in schools. The study population comprised of learners, teachers and parents. Probability and non-probability sampling methods were used. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from learners and teachers, while in-depth face-to-face interviews were used to collect qualitative data from parents. Quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 23. Qualitative data was analysed using Techs’ technique. Reliability and validity as well as trustworthiness were ensured. Ethical principles were adhered to throughout the study. Results indicated that (63%; n=69) learners were sexually active lacked knowledge about contraception (80%; n=40), STIs (38%; n=32) and (33%; n=37) had been pregnant and the mean age was 17. Eighty six (86%; n= 97) reported inaccessibility to sexual and reproductive health services. About (55%, n= 19) teachers were found to be inadequately trained and lacked training manuals. Most teachers reflected ineffectiveness of the existing programmes as evidenced by high pregnancy rates. Parents reflected difficulty in communicating sexual and reproductive health issues with teenagers and lack of knowledge, thus indicating the importance of the programme in schools. Parents also indicated the relevancy of teachers in facilitating the programme and collaboration between the Department of Education and the Department of Health. Dickoff’s six elements of the survey list was used to develop the programme. Programme validation was done by involving participants to evaluate it by completing questionnaires. The programme will empower learners to deal with sexual and reproductive health issues, resulting in decreased teenage pregnancy and other sexual risks. Collaboration and support were the recommendations directed to both the Department of Education and the Department of Health. Further research was also recommended. / NRF

Magister Educationis - MEd / In this study I explored grade 9 learners’ perceptions after the implementation of “intentional teaching”. The research question is: “What are the perceptions of grade 9 learners of the teaching they experience in mathematics?” Conceptually the study is situated in “learners’ perceptions” of teaching with “intentional teaching” as the context. The design used was a survey where learners had to complete a questionnaire, adapted from the Students Evaluating Accomplished Teaching-Mathematics (SEAT-M) instrument. Learners from two grade 9 classes, taught by me, participated. Rasch analysis was used to analyse the data. It was found that learners ranked “the teacher’s ability to encourage them to place a high value on mathematics” the highest. “The teacher’s ability to challenge learners to think through and solve problems, either by themselves or together as a group” was ranked the lowest. It is recommended that all role-players and teachers develop skills of authentic pedagogical dialogue to promote dynamic learning in mathematics classrooms. http://

During 2002, the Extended Campus Services Librarian and the Instruction Librarian at East Tennessee State University created tutorials that were compiled on a CD to be distributed to online students. This workshop presents a simple process using PowerPoint to create interactive HTML-based tutorials, as well as menu and auto-run programming specific to use on a CD. Discussion of the other technologies used for the CD (Dreamweaver for Web editing and customizing open source tutorials from TILT) is included. An overview of the pedagogical theory underlying tutorial design is provided, and the rationale and distribution method for the CD-ROM format is discussed.

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Afrikaans in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1995. / The aim of the research was to identify the role of mother tongue influence in the Afrikaans of Zulu speaking pupils. The research was conducted in the Mehlwesizwe and Hlabisa inspection circuits respectively. The results showed that most deviations which could be ascribed to mother tongue influence were syntactic. Followed by lexical phonological and morphological deviations that there was a need for the use of the communicative approach in the teaching of Afrikaans which can result in the pupils being able to communicate in the language . Successful communication would determine whether the language is correct or not. The amount of exposure to Afrikaans as well as the residential area of the respondent did not necessarily determine the measure of proficiency in the language. The results also showed that Afrikaans occupies third place after the mother tongue and English in the research area. So is it fair to teach pupils a second language higher grade syllabus in Afrikaans ? Why not make provision for a second Language lower grade or even a third language Afrikaans sylabus?

Submitted in fulfillment of a degree of requirement of a degree of Masters in Community Work In the Department of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts At the University of Zululand Supervisor: Prof N.H. Ntombela Co-Supervisor: Dr J.D. Adams Date of Submission: November 2014 / The essence of the study was on the experiences of orphaned learners at school. These experiences were limited to the psychosocial support being provided by educators and their peers to the orphaned learners during their time at school. Bearing in mind the level of stress these orphaned learners go through after the loss of their biological parents, the purpose of the study was hence to explore how orphancy was being supported psychosocially and the extent to which these support contributes to their learning and continuation of schooling. The researcher objective was to understand how orphaned learners perceive themselves through the psychosocial support they receive from their peers and educators. The significance of this study was to provide an account of how orphanhood should be catered during their schooling. To attain the research objective, a qualitative research design was used to explore the experience of the orphaned learners consequently an exploratory study. Semi-structured interviews were used as an instrument for data collection and seven participants were purposively selected due to their rarity. These participants were within high schools from the Eskhaleni Township. These participants were double orphans because they had lost both parents prior to study and residing with extended families and others reside in child-headed homes. The analysis of the data revealed that orphaned learner do experience support from their peers and educators while at school. Within the boundaries of psychosocial support the findings showed that these learners received social support from both educator and peers. Social support was in the form of motivational talk, empathized and sympathized concerns were expressed from their peers and educators. Peculiar to peers were the social attention they received during school hours most especially when their countenance were perceived to be moody. Whilst most educators only reacted in the provision of social support after realizing that the participants were not performing well at school. Unlike social support, the participants revealed that they did not receive any form of psychological support from neither peers nor educators. Out of the scope of the study the participants nonetheless acknowledged other forms of supports that they got from their peers and educators such as financial supports and were of much valuable and appreciative from their perspective. The researcher therefore recommended that township school should be provided with professional counselors at schools. Furthermore the South African School Act, Children’s Right and School based policies should be amended in considerations of orphaned leaners necessities. / University of Zululand Research Fund,

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor Of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University Of Zululand, 2018 / This study was carried out in the King Cetshwayo District of the Province of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Four schools offering Foundation Phase education were randomly selected for the study from the accessible population. Altogether, a total of three hundred and twenty-eight learners participated in the study from Nseleni, Richards Bay and eSikhaleni education circuits. This study aimed to contribute to our understanding of how Foundation Phase (Elementary School) learners conceptualised a healthy environment, and whether or not instruction based on the classical cognitive conflict conceptual change model would differ from an approach based on collateral learning theory in educating grade three learners about a healthy environment. Specifically, the study set out to answer three research questions, namely: (a) What conceptions do grade three learners have of the construct of a healthy environment? (b) What explanations lie behind the learners’ conceptions of a healthy environment? and (c) Will there be a statistically significant difference in learner achievement between those taught through a cognitive conflict-based conceptual change approach versus those taught through an instructional approach based on the collateral learning theory? The theoretical basis of this study was built upon literature which pointed to the imminent threat to Planet Earth, seen against the devastating effects of human actions in the name of civilisation. Accordingly, elements from the cognitive conflict-based perspective of conceptual change and the collateral learning theory were integrated with Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development to consummate a conceptual framework for the study. In the view of the researcher, the conceptualisation and development of the conceptual framework of this study was one of her significant outputs. The research methodology was situated within the mixed methods research paradigm, meaning that both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. As a mixed methods research project, there were two designs applied. The first was a Case Study design, formulated to address the first two research questions, and utilising a test and interviews. The second research design was the Non-Equivalent Groups quasi-experimental research design, which was directed towards addressing the third research question. Simple random sampling was used to select the four participating schools from the education Circuits that participated in this study. Data were collected through individually-based and focus group interviews, as well as a pre-test, which also served as a post-test. The interviews were used to explore the grade three learners’ understanding of a healthy environment and elicit explanations about their answers in the hope of revealing the underlying reasoning for their answers concerning a healthy environment. Permission was requested and obtained to have all the interviews voice-recorded so that the interviewers could focus on the conversations with the learners rather than, for instance, on note-taking. The test was used to establish the baseline knowledge that the learners had about a healthy environment, as well as estimate their gains following the two interventions. The written test was administered in the usual way as class tests. Qualitative data arising from individual and focus group interviews were analysed based on the hermeneutical approach – the first stage of which involved reading through all the transcripts of the learner responses and creating categories of description to identify emerging themes. This entailed finding patterns from which the themes and conceptual categories were constructed. In a reiterative process, the recurring themes and conceptual categories were progressively reduced in number by combining conceptually similar ones, resulting in a consolidated, fewer numbers of categories of descriptions. Quantitative data were analysed statistically using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS). The analysis involved a comparison of the means as a result of the two interventions. In this regard, both the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the t-test statistic were used. On the first research question, the majority of the participants demonstrated a good understanding of the term ‘environment’ in line with the espoused content of the Foundation Phase curriculum. On the definition of pollution, two categories of description emerged – that is, a view of pollution as some form or other of ‘contamination’, and pollution characterised in terms of its consequences or negative effects on the environment, people, animals and plants. On the whole, the learners demonstrated an acceptable level of understanding of the concept of pollution. Furthermore, the results showed that the learners had a good grasp of the concepts of safe drinking water; unsafe drinking water; wasting water; using water wisely; land/soil, air, water and noise pollution, well as the 3R’s of recycling, re-using and reducing. However, some mis- and/or alternative conceptions were noted. Overall, the general picture that emerged was that the grade three learners’ understanding of a healthy environment was in line with the expectations of the school curriculum at the Foundation Phase level. On the second research question the learners appeared to experience difficulty with the notion of recycling. On pollution, there was sufficient evidence that the learners made the connections between the respective photographic materials used and water, land/soil, air, and noise pollution. In addition, most learners gave explanations concerning how these types of pollution affected living organisms which depended on the particular environment. Furthermore, the learners easily distinguished between safe and unsafe drinking water, and gave satisfactory explanations about the adverse effects of drinking polluted water. However, it should also be mentioned that a few misconceptions also emerged from some of their explanations. These included the notions that one could catch TB from drinking dirty water, and that drinking clean water resulted in someone having enough blood. From learner explanations, the concept of re-using was partially understood. Overall, however, it should be stated that the learners had a good idea of the selected environmental concepts as prescribed by the Foundation Phase curriculum. On the third research question, although some gains had been made by both groups, there was no statistically significant difference between the two posttest mean scores. However, using the pretest scores as baseline, the collateral learning group had performed statistically significantly beyond the pretest, suggesting that there was some merit in thinking that collateral learning could be a productive approach to use in South African schools. The posttest mean score of the cognitive conflict-based conceptual change group was not significantly different from the pre-test mean score. This result suggests that more research is still needed to give clarity to this matter. Within the constraints of the study, the researcher is satisfied that much was achieved, and that the results reported in this study will go a long way in serving as baseline data for future research. The thesis ends with some recommendations in respect of both classroom practice and further research.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment or partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Edncation (Educational Psychology) in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Zululand, 2002. / The study consisted of three aims. The first was to determine the general attitude of high school learners towards school desegregation, the second aim focused on the age of the learner and whether or not this played a role in the learners' attitudes towards the process of desegregation and lastly the* third aim examined the extent to which the following variables played a role in the attitude of learners towards school desegregation: urban-rural dichotomy, gender, race and the frequency of contact with learners from other race groups. A questionnaire was designed and administered to high school learners (grades 8 to 12) who attend desegregated schools. Fifty-five percent of learners held positive attitudes towards school desegregation. Race was the only variable that had a direct influence on the results obtained.

The study was a descriptive survey designed to find out educators’ perceptions of learners’ performance in selected public primary schools in Mthunzini circuit in Empangeni district. Subjects for the study were one hundred and seventy (170) educators randomly drawn from primary schools. Views were sampled through 5 Likert-type questionnaire.This was to address the three research questions formulated to guide the study. Data were analysed using chi-square and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) resulting in descriptive data. The findings of the study revealed that teachers’ qualifications, experience and level of specialization do influence learners’ performance. The study also revealed that inadequate teaching and learning materials (T/LMs) and other study materials, educator and learner absenteeism and lateness and inability to complete the content of the teaching syllabus and other school related factors contribute to poor academic performance of learners. Outside school related factors include provision of basic needs and lack of parental involvement due to a number of learners who are from single household families. They lack monitoring mechanisms of their children’s school work as intensity of examinations and supervision. Recommendations made from the study were that, the appointment of educators in primary schools should be strictly aligned with their field of specialization. The Department of Basic Education should supply primary schools with adequate teaching and learning materials as well as other study materials to help enhance teaching and learning to raise the academic standards of learners. Likewise the supervision and monitoring in the Department of Basic Education should be strengthened. Subject and circuit supervisors should be more regular in the schools to help motivate educators and learners to work more efficiently and effectively. Regular sensitization should be organized in the circuit to inform parents about the value of education to children, the community and the nation as a whole to encourage parental involvement.