In 2006, Outcomes Based Education (OBE) was introduced into Grade 10 (as part of the FET band) for the first time. For the Grade 10 History teacher, this new teaching approach implied modified assessment practices, setting new demands and challenges. It brought about an adjusted assessment strategy through which the focus of formal assessment was shifted to an interactive and learner-centred approach of "doing" History rather than "facts" simply being assessed. Whether outcome based assessment (OBA) is executed meaningfully, is determined by the Grade 10 History teacher's ability to develop learning and assessment strategies that can integrate the critical outcomes, the development outcomes, the learning outcomes and the assessment standards meaningfully with the facilitation of the historic content. The overarching aim of this research was to investigate the assessment practices of History teachers in Grade 10. It was undertaken within the framework of an extensive literature study on OBE and OBA as teaching processes - internationally and nationally. In order to determine the assessment practices of Grade 10 History teachers, an empirical investigation was undertaken that was based on both quantitative and qualitative research methods, with a view to: • establish to what extent the Grade 10 History teacher followed the guidelines/ prescriptions of OBA; • determine the Grade 10 History teacher's knowledge, attitudes and skills regarding OBA; • identify deficiencies and problems that prevent the Grade 10 History teacher from implementing OBA effectively; and • design an OBA model for the Grade 10 History teacher. A random sample of schools was drawn nationally. A structured questionnaire was sent to the Grade 10 History teachers of these schools [n = 424], of which a total of 122 was received back. The results were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively and the following are but a few findings of this research: • Most of the teachers were positively inclined towards OBA because it is aimed at developing the entire learner. • Most of the teachers had sufficient knowledge of the assessment documents made available to them, and it was comprehensible. • Most of the teachers were convinced that the training they had received, had not sufficiently empowered them professionally speaking for implementing OBA. • Most of the teachers expressed the need for more support from the Department of Education concerning better in-service training programmes, more support from subject and curriculum advisors and more resources and learning and teaching support material being made available. • Generally speaking, the theoretical knowledge of OBA of most of the teachers was good, but they desired more and longer practice oriented in-service training in specific aspects regarding OBA. Based on the results proceeding from the research, recommendations were made in order to promote the practical implementation of OBA in schools. A holistic OBE quality model for teaching History was also designed that will empower the History teacher to implement OBA effectively to then especially complement the critical outcomes. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

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

This investigation focused on educators’ understanding of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) and the impact it has had on their classroom assessment practices. As assessment practices may not be separated from instructional practices, educators’ opinions were probed on their classroom practices in general (i.e. instructional and assessment practices). Educators are the major role players towards successful implementation of OBE; as such their understanding of OBE is important. It has been about nine (9) years since OBE was phased in, in the South African Education system. Educators have undergone in-service training through workshops in order to implement OBE in their classroom practices. In the early stages of implementing OBE, many educators did not understand what was expected of them in an OBE classroom. Most of them continued to follow direct instruction as the only method in their instructional practices. They were resistant to changes. One of the reasons why they resisted changes is that they had little understanding of OBE. This investigation was meant to determine whether there has been development and improvement on educators’ understanding of OBE. The following qualitative research methods were followed in this investigation: semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis. A general overview of OBE was given in order to help me to develop criteria on which I could judge educators’ opinions regarding their understanding of OBE during interviews, observations and document analysis. The results in this investigation show that educators still have little understanding of OBE premises and principles. They do not accommodate OBE premises and principles in their classroom practices. Educators’ understanding of OBE must be improved so that they can implement OBE effectively in the classroom. / Dissertation (Magister Educationis (Assessment and Quality Assurance)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Curriculum Studies / 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

Doctor Educationis / The aim of this research was to establish how successfully schools in the foundation phase (Grades 1 and 2), where training and implementation of OBE has been completed, were able to reach the goals of OBE. As part of the broader goal, this investigation attempted to clarify whether the inclusionary approach of OBE was working in primary schools in the foundation phase based on its central premise that all students can learn and succeed, but not on the same day and in the same way. More specifically, this investigation attempted to establish: (i) How successfully had the 66 specific outcomes been implemented in Grade 1 and Grade 2? (ii) What was the level of success of implementation in the different learning areas? (iii) What was the level of success in the implementation of mastery learning? (iv) How many learners had been moved from special education sites to regular education sites? (v) Did schools have the resources to deal with diversity? (vi) Had there been sufficient human resource development to ensure teachers had been trained to deal with diversity? And (vii) Did teachers feel they could teach all learners? In order to arrive at the above-mentioned aim, this study included a survey in a sample of primary schools in the Western Cape. A survey was conducted in 108 primary schools which constitutes 10% of the primary schools in the Western Cape Province. The 108 schools were chosen based on socio-economic and rural/urban considerations. Schools were identified on the following basis: 25% of the poorly resourced schools in urban areas, 25% of the well resourced schools in urban areas, 25% of the poorly resourced schools in the rural areas and 25% of the well resourced schools in the rural areas. Regarding the results of the study concerning the specific outcomes and learning areas, in grade one and grade two results relating to the specific outcomes and learning areas revealed that the majority of teachers rated the level of success at average and below. For example, the range of those teachers who indicated average and below in grade 1 was from 41.03% to 81.96% and in grade 2 from 43.56% to 79.50%. In most learning areas, the number of teachers who In Grades one and two, both language, literacy and communication and indicated average and below was substantial, for example, in grade 1; Natural Sciences, 81.96%, Technology, 78.43%, Economics and Management Sciences, 72.87%. Similar results have been found in Grade 2, for example; Natural Sciences, 79,50%, indicated average and below was substantial, for example, in grade 1 levels across geographical and socio-economic contexts. For example, the urban poor had the lowest results in Grade two and the urban rich experienced the lowest results in Grade one. This suggests that the implementation of OBE was generally poor. The poor results of the urban rich in relation to the other categories suggest that the implementation of OBE has failed in affluent urban schools yet it is normally expected that affluent schools would perform well in relation to the other categories. This is another indication that the implementation of OBE has generally been poor.

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.

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Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis examines the way in which the recognition of diversity can be applied as a strategy in South African education to erode the bitter legacy of colonial education. The establishment of formal education, built on a western foundation, was set up against a background of colonisation as a process aimed at political subjugation and economic exploitation. It is especially how education was utilised as a tool of colonisation in order to facilitate the above-mentioned subjugation and exploitation through a process of cultural subjugation that will be placed under the spotlight. In chapter three, the process of cultural subjugation outlined in chapter two, is related to the establishment and development of colonial education in South Africa and also how Apartheid was a form of internal colonialism with apartheid education continuing the process of cultural subjugation for political control and economic exploitation. Colonial subjugation was, however, not passively accepted by the subjugated. From the outset, subjugation spawned resistance and would eventually grow into large-scale opposition aimed at the overall casting off of the colonial yoke. This opposition eventually led to the political freedom of 1994. The political freedom of 1994 and the judicial framework for the dismantling of the legacy of colonial education would not, on its own or overnight, be able to dismantle the effects of centuries of subjugation. The dismantling of the inheritance of colonialism, together with colonial education, requires deliberate and constructive action. Such a process will have to include putting an end to the subjugation of the numerous voices characteristic of South Africa. Ending this subjugation does not mean the continuation of a position alongside and beneath a socially constructed dominant, but rather a process (a struggle?) where it can take its place impartially, alongside and equal to other voices in the greater diverse whole. It is against the above background that teaching strategies for the handling of diversity will be critically examined and for which recommendations are made for strategies, within the South African context, through which the dismantling of the colonial legacy of cultural subjugation for political control and economic exploitation can take place.