Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / South Africa

Since 1997, curriculum implementation was introduced in South African schools. A timetable was given to all schools to implement C2005 in each grade for each year. The study had attempted to identify major factors that hindered or promoted the implementation of C2005 in two schools in Mpumalanga. A case study was conducted where one learning area, namely, natural science was investigated. Each school was visited for an entire week by the researcher. During the visit, the researcher conducted individual interviews with principal, two science teachers and two focus group interviews composed of five learners. Observations of natural science lesson were made of which two of them were recorded on video camera for further analysis. Practices, which were captured in classes, were compared to Rogan and Grayson (2001) model of curriculum implementation. In the final analysis, the study compiled a profile for each school. Both schools rated poorly (level one) in the implementation of C2005. The capacity to support innovation was poor in one school. The study also found that teachers in their attempt to implement C2005 were actually moving from 'frying pan into fire'. Lack of resources and intensive training was creating stress and making most of teachers want to leave the profession. Recommendations were also provided by the study for short and long-term considerations. / Dissertation (MA (Research Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Psychology / unrestricted

The study entails the design of a public school in the Pretoria inner city that will serve the needs of a growing number of residents in the area. Influences that shaped the design include the school’s connection with the urban context, needs set by the current educational system and a commitment to sustainable development. A mutualistic relationship between school and city is created. The inner city serves as an energetic and sustaining growth medium for the school. The school becomes a beacon of education for the urban community. Architecture creates the opportunity for a positive flow of information and inspiration between school and city. Functions of the school and city blend. Boundaries between the two become blurred. Architecture becomes flexible. Urban or educational needs can lead to a re-shaping of the building’s function or internal organisation. A temporary stability is provided. Architecture makes the user aware of is or her place in the physical and social context of the environment, just as the user makes the architecture aware of its place. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Architecture / unrestricted

Through education, a society hopes to reproduce itself, and through architecture a society reveals it’s values, aspirations, norms, beliefs and its cultural composition in the built environment. The first democratic elections in 1994 marked the end of the apartheid era and the beginning of the definition of a new era that would represent the new aspirations of all the people of South Africa. These fairly recent changes are important for the reshaping of the architectural profession as it seeks to interpret new meanings, views and aspirations of the new South African society in the built environment. A starting point in the transformation of the architecture profession is the development of a curriculum model in schools of architecture that will ensure continuous adaptation to the changes in society. The study reviewed and categorized the contemporary curriculum models as used in the South African schools of Architecture according to an array of philosophies and principles that underlie curricula. The Thesis proposes that an eclectic approach to design of architecture curricula is ideal for the multicultural society of South Africa that seeks to balance the demands of the local and global context in its education. This study revealed that most architecture programmes retain their traditional programmes because the university is the largely the locus of learning, experiential learning is minimal as well as little flexibility as most of the learning course- modules are required modules. The Thesis proposes a curriculum model for architecture based on the Post-Modern philosophy, which can effectively accommodate the needs of a changing South Africa in the educational programmes for architects. Such a model defines with clarity the pedagogic or epistemological reasons for directing change in architecture programmes in an increasingly complex and dynamic South African society. / Thesis (PhD (Architecture))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Architecture / unrestricted

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The research was prompted by two main issues prevalent in South African education in the last decade. These were particularly the critical state of the schooling system, especially in the educationally disadvantaged schools (mainly ex-Department of Education and Training) and the relationship of the teacher to teaching and the related issue of teacher upgrading. The resultant effect was that the educationally disadvantaged communities became more and more disadvantaged over time because of decreasing mental stimulation and mental development. The answer lay in finding a theory of intellectual growth and development which takes into account the learning environment of the disadvantaged child. The Educational Support Services Trust (ESST) has been active in addressing this very issue since 1986. It provides appropriate learner-centred mediational texts to disadvantaged pupils around the country. These materials concentrate on the development of practical intelligence by relating leaming to everyday experience. The Teachers' Methodology Project was designed to change the teachers who were using the ESST materials from being disseminators of information to being managers of a learning-centred classroom environment. The idea was to change the way that teachers thought about teaching and learning. This was accomplished by sharing the methodology of the existing pupils' materials and theories of cognition and mediation with them so that they could become adept at mediating at the level of deconstruction of complex ideas and using this knowledge in the construction and development of their own learning materials, thereby contributing to the mental development of their pupils. My experience as a staff member of the ESST and my background in education provided an entry point to this research via Feuerstein et at's (1980,1991) criteria for mediation, Haywood's (1993) mediational teaching style and a range of other theories and ideas including group work and co-operative learning, graphic organisers, and the ESSTs own theory of mediatory text (Sinclair, 1991). These were consolidated into a learning-centred approach to teaching in which the learner, the teacher and the task become part of the total learning-centred environment. The research began as an investigation of the Teachers' Methdology Project (TMP) and an effort to track teachers' development but grew to include the development of the conceptual mediational framework on which the project was based. This resulted in the development of a classroom observation instrument which was used to evaluate how teachers mediated in their classrooms and how they interacted with pupils. The TMP was implemented through a series of workshops during which teachers examined their assumptions about teaching and learning: explored new avenues for facilitating learning; experienced a learning-centred approach to teaching; acquired new strategies for and knowledge of, theories and atttitudes to teaching and learning and were able to reflect on and practise newly acquired skills in a supportive collegial environment. The research employed a qualitative approach and therefore the documentation of the process took considerable effort. An experiential framework (Kolb, 1974) was used to analyse the process and the results. This mediational experiential framework resulted in a methodology which addressed teachers' attitudes and cognition in a life-related way, taking into account their personal knowledge and experience. The methodology is replicable and has been used in basic adult education and other settings. In addition, the methodology can contribute to the understanding of how Outcomes-based Education could be implemented in South Africa.

Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this qualitative research study was to determine the value that a group of teachers in South Africa would place on the process of lesson study as a model for their own learning and instructional improvement. A qualitative case study approach through an action research design was the methodology employed for this research. Participants in this 18-month study experienced three complete cycles and a fourth partially completed cycle of lesson study. The setting in South Africa offers a unique perspective to research on lesson study. Lesson study has been the primary method of professional teacher development in Japan for more than 50 years. It is also realizing some success in school districts across the USA. The recent educational reforms in South Africa have something in common with each of these countries. Like Japan, South Africa has adopted a national curriculum. The common link with the USA is that both countries have recently experienced educational reform at the national government level. The findings from this research include a discussion of the elements contained in lesson study that may be beneficial to incorporate into continuing professional teacher development programs, an analysis of the sustainability of lesson study, and an exploration of the connection between the model of lesson study and the design of action research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie kwalitatiewe navorsingstudie was om die waarde wat ʼn groep onderwysers in Suid-Afrika op die proses van lesstudie as ʼn model vir hulle eie leer- en onderrigverbetering sou plaas, te bepaal. ʼn Kwalitatiewe gevallestudie-benadering met behulp van ʼn aksienavorsingontwerp was die metodologie wat tydens hierdie navorsing aangewend is. Deelnemers aan hierdie studie wat oor 18 maande gestrek het, het drie volledige siklusse en ʼn vierde gedeeltelike siklus van lesstudie onderneem. Die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks bied ʼn unieke perspektief op navorsing oor lesstudie. Lesstudie was vir meer as 50 jaar die primêre metode van professionele onderwyserontwikkeling in Japan. Dit behaal ook ’n mate van sukses in skooldistrikte oor die VSA heen. Die onlangse onderwyshervormings in Suid-Afrika het iets gemeen met elk van hierdie lande. Soos Japan, het Suid-Afrika ʼn nasionale kurrikulum in gebruik geneem. Die skakel met die VSA is dat albei lande onlangs onderwyshervorming op nasionale regeringsvlak ondergaan het. Die bevindinge van hierdie navorsing sluit ʼn bespreking van die elemente vervat in lesstudie in wat inkorporering in programme vir voortgesette professionele onderwyserontwikkeling tot voordeel kan strek, ʼn ontleding van die volhoubaarheid van lesstudie, en ʼn verkenning van die verband tussen die lesstudie-model en die ontwerp van aksienavorsing.

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Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.