The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the application of OBE principles such as the learner-centred approach, teacher facilitation and integration of knowledge in the teaching of African languages in the senior phase. The study was conducted in Vhembe and Mopani District in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Data were collected through observation, an interview schedule and documentary analysis. The constructivist grounded theory provided a theoretical framework for this study. Data were analysed simultaneously with the data-collection process informed by the constructivist grounded theory. This investigation revealed that teachers do not apply the investigated OBE principles in the teaching of African languages in the senior phase. Instead, they still teach in the manner they used before the introduction of the OBE approach. There were many reasons advanced by teachers for their failure to apply these principles in their teachings. A lack of knowledge and skills necessary to apply this new approach was prevalent. This lack of knowledge could be attributed to the inadequate teacher training received and noncommitment to OBE approach by the teachers. The study found that the investigated principles were not applied because of a lack of application strategies, the failure to interpret policy documents and resistance to change by teachers. In view of the findings in this study, the researcher deemed it imperative to make recommendations which could be used for further studies in order to achieve the proper application of OBE principles in the teaching of African languages. / D. Ed. (Didactics) / Educational Studies

Little information is available on future vocational preparation for intellectually disabled learners in South African schools. Currently teachers adapt the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) to educate these learners. A literature study was conducted to investigate relevant models in the United States of America in order to develop a framework for a South African vocational training and transition planning programme in the school. Various South African vocational training programmes designed for disabled learners with good literacy and numeracy skills, the role of employment agencies and the local employment possibilities for intellectually disabled people were investigated to assess their suitability for intellectually disabled learners. An Individualised Vocational Programme that involves the parents and their child(ren) was developed to suit the needs of intellectually disabled learners. The RNCS was adapted by means of curriculum straddling and designing down to make the learning material suitable for intellectually disabled learners. The full programme consisted of an adapted interest test, curriculum training, the placement of learners in school jobs/tasks and a home independence programme, The programme was implemented and a mixed method research design facilitated the case study done in a school for severely intellectually disabled learners. Findings revealed that a vocational training and transition planning programme in the school can be managed successfully to the benefit of the parents, learners and the Department of Education. Based on the findings recommendations were made to improve the various sections of the comprehensive programme. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Educational Management)

The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) Grades 10 to 12 (Schools), implemented from 2006, led to changes in promotion requirements and assessment practices. The investigation aimed at acquiring information about the extent to which the differences in the promotion requirements and assessment practices contributed to the high retention rate of learners in the FET Band. An explanatory mixed method strategy was followed to obtain reliable and valid results in this research. Quantitative research consisted of questionnaires and a survey to investigate OBE, assessment practices, the Grade 12 examinations and the impact of changes in promotion requirements since 2006. Qualitative research consisted of an interview with an official from the National Department of Education that contributed to a better understanding of policy changes. Based on the findings of the research, recommendations were constructed to improve assessment practices and to provide scientific data on the consequences of policy changes on the promotion of learners. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Educational Management)

(D. Ed. (Didactics))

A study was undertaken to explore what constitutes instructional capacity in the teaching and learning of mathematics (TLM), with a focus on how schools (as institutions of teaching and learning) integrate resources for a particular configuration of capacity to promote high achievement levels of Grade 12 students in mathematics. Data were collected in ten public secondary schools, mostly in a disadvantaged context, in the Vhembe District in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study explores strategies for constructing, organising and replenishing instructional capacity in TLM. Five low- and five high-performing schools were selected, based on the pass rate in mathematics in high stakes examinations. The researcher observed lessons and interviewed ten Grade 12 mathematics teachers, ten principals, five curriculum advisors and a sample of forty Grade 12 mathematics students. The research revealed that the capacity to encourage the new curriculum reform practices in TLM within different schools is often inadequate, and largely fails to compensate for organisational effects and arrangements that shape the capacity to create quality instruction in mathematics. However, high-performing schools were somewhat ahead of low-performing schools in terms of encouraging reform-oriented teaching and learning in mathematics. Recommendations include: Principals should initiate the development and implementation of a school-based clinical supervision programme through collaborative decision-making to promote a sense of ownership by all mathematics teachers. Such a supervision programme would enhance commitment and ensure that all efforts are unified towards improving the quality of TLM. There is a need for the DoE in Limpopo Province to coordinate teacher professional development workshops, where effective practising mathematics teachers model how they teach mathematics in the classroom, while other teachers observe. Context-based strategies to enhance student outcomes in mathematics should be devised, such as modelling good practice by effective teachers in terms of: lesson preparation; subject knowledge; pedagogic approach; assessment and monitoring of classroom practice, including direct observation of teaching by HoDs and principals. It is proposed that attention to these issues, amongst others, would limit the impact of an unpromising context on student achievement levels in mathematics in high stakes examinations in the Vhembe District and elsewhere. / Mathematics Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

South African educators have experienced problems understanding and implementing various previous curriculum policies such as Curriculum 2005 and the Revised National Curriculum Statement. These problems have made it necessary for the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to introduce the national Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) in 2012. CAPS was intended to improve teaching and learning, but as with the implementation of any new curriculum it implies the following: The need for educator training; Need for new resources; Change in policy; An increased workload. This qualitative study which was conducted at a primary school in the Imfolozi Circuit aimed to determine how CAPS is implemented and its implications on teaching and learning. Data collected from focus group interviews and document analysis revealed that while educators welcomed the introduction of CAPS for its clarity, structure, clear guidelines and time frames however they experienced challenges related to the quality and the amount of training, inadequate resources, increased workload and the impact of rapid pace of the curriculum on teaching and learning. Based on these results recommendations are made for the improvement of the implementation of CAPS. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This assignment provides a description of the cognitive, social and emotional developmental tasks of adolescence. In addition a summary of the most prevalent social, emotional and behavioural problems reported during this developmental phase is provided. With this information as a context, a school-based, curricula-integrated prevention programme is then introduced as a possible tool to facilitate the development of positive mental health among adolescents. The programme discussed, namely Programme Achieve (2nd ed.) by Dr. M.E. Bernard of California State University, is unique in its aim to both enhance academic achievement and social-emotional well-being. Programme Achieve (2nd ed.) is based on Bloom's school learning theory, rational-emotive therapy and rationalemotive education and various cognitive-behavioural and socialleaming research findings. With its sound theoretical and research base Programme Achieve (2nd ed.) offers students the opportunity to learn a mindset that will help them develop their full academic, emotional and interpersonal potential. Within the South African "Draft Revised National Curriculum Statement" (2001), provision is made for lessons pertaining to the students' personal development. In response to this, the author explores the suitability of Programme Achieve (2nd ed.) as a means to attain the specific Learner Outcomes and Assessment Standards as specified in the "Draft Revised National Curriculum Statement" (2001). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die werkstuk gee 'n beskrywing van die kognitiewe, sosiale en emosionele ontwikkelingstake kenmerkend van adolessensie. Verder word 'n oorsig gegee van die belangrikste sosiale, emosionele en gedragsprobleme, kenmerkend van hierdie ontwikkelingsfase. Teen hierdie teoretiese agtergrond word 'n skool-uitkoms, kurrikula-geïntegreerde voorkomingsprogram voorgestel as 'n moontlike hulpmiddelom die ontwikkeling van geestesgesondheid onder adolessente te fasiliteer. Programme Achieve (2de ed.) is uniek in sy doelwit om akademiese prestasie sowel as sosiale-emosionele welsyn te bevorder. Programme Achieve (2de ed.) is gebaseer op Bloom se skoolleer teorie, rasioneel-emosionele terapie en rasioneel-emosionele onderrig en verskeie ander kognitiewe gedrags- en sosiale-leer navorsingsbevindinge. Programme Achieve (2de ed.), met sy stewige teoretiese en navorsingsbasis, gee leerders die geleentheid om 'n denkpatroon aan te leer wat hul sal help om hulle volle akademiese, emosionele en interpersoonlike potensiaal te bereik. Voorsiening word in die Suid Afrikaanse "Draft Revised National Curriculum Statement" (200 1) gemaak vir onderrig ten opsigte van leerders se persoonlike ontwikkeling. Met verwysing hierna, word die toepaslikheid van Programme Achieve (2de ed.) ondersoek as 'n middelom spesifieke Leerder-Uitkomste en Evalueringstandaarde, soos vervat in die "Draft Revised National Curriculum Statement" (200 1), te bereik.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigated a single research question, that is: How do teachers experience the implementation of the Further Education and Training (FET) National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for Physical Science? The focus of the study was on searching the inner consciousness of Physical Science teachers as they engaged with the teaching of the subject on a daily basis. It is in the inner consciousness where one finds the truth about people’s perceptions, beliefs, emotions, challenges and convictions about/towards phenomena that the study sought to determine. In so doing, this study searched for phenomenological truth about the daily realities Physical Science teachers are faced with, as they implement the NCS. Phenomenological truth is floatable, precarious in nature, and subject to an individual’s perception of truth. It is important to note that phenomenological truth makes no reference to absolute truth. At the time this study was conducted the NCS was the only policy document with legal status for schools in South Africa. As a result the NCS influences and directs the pedagogical practices of teachers. This is because the NCS has a specific expectation of Physical Science teachers with regards to their understanding of the content, the delivery of the content, the learning environment, and professionalism. Through searching the consciousness of teachers, they revealed how they experienced what they do in the Physical Science classroom. In other words, how they experience what, how, when and who they teach. Probing into the consciousness of teachers and how they experience the implementation of the NCS provides valuable insight into the quality of curriculum delivery. This study did not only focus on the implementation of the NCS, but also examined why it might be difficult for teachers to change their practices. Phenomenology is both a theory and a method. The study was guided by the ideas of Edmund Husserl - who is regarded by many phenomenologists as the father of phenomenology, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and many other phenomenologists. Husserl (cited in Derrida, 1967) believed that we should begin any explanation with experience, which is a scientific description that does not presuppose any significance of the existence of the metaphysical world. By delving into the complexities of experience one can locate the flowing life of an individual’s consciousness as it occurs. Husserl posited the belief returning to the things themselves (cited in, Derrida, 1967; Spanos, 1976; Groenewald, 2004) to describe the purity of experience as data. In this study I sampled three teachers and employed a phenomenological methodological framework to capture their lived experiences. I used one-on-one semi-structured face-to-face interviews to construct the data. In addition, field notes were used to turn the direct experiences and observations of the participants into vivid descriptions. In phenomenology researchers use field notes to make the voice of people heard in the text. I drew on Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty’s philosophical pathways that a person must be understood from his position within a specific time and place to present the findings. The major finding in this study showed that the teachers’ consciousness, with respect to Physical Science teaching was negatively influenced by the legacy of apartheid-education. This negative consciousness through which they framed their thoughts and filtered their ideas became the collective mindset through which they personified their teaching. The study revealed that the delivery of the NCS (by the teachers) was mostly axiomatised by old habits and images in their thoughts engrained in their memory under apartheid education. The findings also showed that their (teachers’) consciousness with regards to the NCS unconsciously oscillated between the present and the past and that they continuously and unconsciously bring the past (old ideas and beliefs) into the present. The teachers constantly have to struggle against the phenomenological self or attitude and ceaselessly suppose and follow thoughts of pre-comprehension or preconception. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doelwit van hierdie studie was om die volgende navorsingvraag te beantwoord: Hoe ervaar onderwysers die implementering van die Verdere Onderwys en Opleiding (VOO) Nasionale Kurrikulum Verklaring (NKV) vir Fisiese Wetenskap? Die hoofdoel was om meer insig te verkry oor wat binne onderwysers se psige plaasvind soos hulle op ‘n daaglikse basis hul uitleef in die Fisiese Wetenskapsklaskamer binne die raamwerk van die NKV. Dit is binne die psige waar hul persepsies, diepgewortelde waardes, emosies, en uitdagings rondom die NKV rus. Om hierdie rede is die studie geïntresseerd om die fenomenologiese waarheid van die alledaagse realiteite waarmee hulle aanhoudend gekonfronteer word, te myn. Fenominologiese waarheid is vloeibaar en verskil van persoon tot persoon en hou geen verwysing met absolute waarheid nie. Toe hierdie studie plaasgevind het, was die VOO NKV die enigste wettige beleidsdokument vir die deelnemers. Die onderwysers was dus verplig om die voorgeskrewe beginsels soos in die NKV saamgevat toe te pas in die voorbereiding en aanbieding van hul lesse. Die NKV beskryf in diepte die inhoud vir elke graad (10-12), hoe die inhoud aangebied moet word, die klaskamer atmosfeer, asook die professionalitiet van die opvoeders. Al die antwoorde soos saamgevat in laasgenoemde, lê bine die psige van die onderwysers. Die ondersoek van die psige van die onderwysers lei tot ‘n begrip van hoe, wat en waarom Fisiese Wetenskaps-onderswysers doen wat hulle doen. Alhoewel die fokus van hierdie studie op die implementering van die NKV is, dra dit ook by tot groeiende kennis aangaande hoekom onderwysers dit moeilik vind om hulle praktyke te verander wanneer dit kom by die hernuwing van ‘n kurrikulum. Fenomenologie is beide ‘n navorsingsmetode en ‘n teorie. Die literatuuroorsig van hierdie studie is geinspireer deur die idees van Edmund Husserl, wat bestempel word as die vader van fenomenolgie, asook Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, en veskeie ander fenomenoloë. Derrida (1967) is oortuig daarvan dat enige verduideliking akkuraat beskryf kan word indien geleefde ervaring in ag geneem word. Geleefde ervaring spreek direk tot die onderliggende psige van ‘n individu, en deur die psige te ondersoek, is dit moontlik om ‘n individu se oortuigings ten opsigte van sy/haar geloof, persepsies en uitdagings, asook hoe die individu reageer op hierdie aspekte te verstaan. Husserl gebruik die uitdrukking ‘returning to the things themselves’ wanneer hy verwys na die belangrikheid en oorspronlikheid van ervaring (vermeld in, Derrida, 1967; Spanos, 1976; Groenewald, 2004). Om hierdie rede is ‘n fenomenologiese metode gevolg om die lewenservaringe van drie swart onderwysers vas te vang. Hierdie fenomenologiese vertolkende ondersoek word deur veelvoudigemetodes van inligtingsinsameling gekenmerk. Inligting in hierdie studie oor die deelnemers se ervaringe is vekry deur middel van individuele onderhoude, en die ontleding van die inhoud daarvan. Addisionele inligting is verkry deur veldnotas. Die doelwit van die veldnotas was om die deelnemers se direkte ervaringe en waarnemings in besonderhede te beskryf. Die ontledingsbenadering van elke deelnemer is gedoen binne die raamwerk van Husserl, Heidegger en Merleau-Ponty wat gegrond is op teorieë wat die belangrikheid van plek en tyd uitbeeld. Die resultate van hierdie studie het getoon dat die onderliggende psige van elke deelnemer deur die nalatenskap van apartheid negatief beïnvloed is. Hierdie negatiewe denkpatrone waardeur die onderwysers se idees formuleer vorm die kollektiewe ingesteldheid waardeur hulle hul onderrigswêreld skep. Verder het die studie onthul dat hul aanbieding van die NKV meestal gedryf word deur ou gewoontes wat binne hul denke gekristalliseer het. Hulle vind dit dus moeilik om deur hierdie ou gewoontes te breek. Hul denke wissel gedurig tussen die verlede en die hede en roep die verlede voortdurend binne die hede. Alhoewel die bevindinge van hierdie studie gekoppel is aan plek en tyd is daar ‘n konstante struweling tussen die fenomenologiese self en hul ou gesette denke.

(D. Ed. (Didactics))

Little information is available on future vocational preparation for intellectually disabled learners in South African schools. Currently teachers adapt the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) to educate these learners. A literature study was conducted to investigate relevant models in the United States of America in order to develop a framework for a South African vocational training and transition planning programme in the school. Various South African vocational training programmes designed for disabled learners with good literacy and numeracy skills, the role of employment agencies and the local employment possibilities for intellectually disabled people were investigated to assess their suitability for intellectually disabled learners. An Individualised Vocational Programme that involves the parents and their child(ren) was developed to suit the needs of intellectually disabled learners. The RNCS was adapted by means of curriculum straddling and designing down to make the learning material suitable for intellectually disabled learners. The full programme consisted of an adapted interest test, curriculum training, the placement of learners in school jobs/tasks and a home independence programme, The programme was implemented and a mixed method research design facilitated the case study done in a school for severely intellectually disabled learners. Findings revealed that a vocational training and transition planning programme in the school can be managed successfully to the benefit of the parents, learners and the Department of Education. Based on the findings recommendations were made to improve the various sections of the comprehensive programme. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Educational Management)