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Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education in the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / Parental involvement in rural multigrade schools in South Africa is poor. This is mainly due to a lack of support for and insufficient knowledge regarding the development of a programme that would increase parental involvement at rural multigrade schools in South Africa. The context of multigrade education in South Africa reflects the reality of a lack of parental involvement. South African rural multigrade education is beset by a variety of internal and external challenges which have a detrimental effect on effective parental involvement. However, in the rural multigrade school context, parents have untapped potential that needs to be identified and acted upon in order to empower parents; this could provide the rural marginalised children with meaningful access to quality education. Research has proved that parental involvement has a positive effect on the quality of education. According to research, the six types of parental involvement are parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making and collaborating with the community. In this study the focus was on involving parents in learning and allowing them to become active partners in education. To increase parental involvement in learning at rural multigrade schools in South Africa, an intervention was needed. This intervention came in the form of a school, community and family partnership programme. The core elements of a school, community and family partnership programme (SCAF partnership programme) were the creation of partnerships and communication channels between the school, community and family, as well as the utilisation of existing community resources. These core elements had a specific focus on learning. This study used Bourdieu's (1986) theory on capital and Epstein's (1995) theory of overlapping spheres of influence. The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of an effective school, community and family partnership programme that would increase parental involvement in learning at rural multigrade schools in South Africa. Design-based research was employed in order to design, develop and test the proposed programme. Research was conducted in two phases. During the preliminary phase, a needs and content analysis, review of literature, and the development of a conceptual or theoretical framework for the study were conducted. This was followed by a prototyping phase which is an iterative design phase consisting of iterations, each being a micro-cycle of research with formative evaluation as the most important research activity, and which is aimed at improving and refining the intervention. Summative evaluation was conducted during the prototype phase in order to determine whether the solution or intervention met the pre-determined specifications. Data gathered during this study indicated: 1. The SCAF partnership programme can increase parental involvement in learning at rural multigrade schools if certain product and process characteristics are active. 2. The SCAF partnership programme allows utilising school, home and community capital through interaction and collaboration to increase parental involvement in learning. 3. A SCAF partnership programme should focus on learning through creating partnerships and opportunities for communication, and utilising community resources. 4. A SCAF partnership programme should be employed through a specific process. 5. Design research offers an appropriate and powerful approach to design, develop and implement a SCAF partnership programme that increases parental involvement in learning at rural multigrade schools. Keywords: Parental involvement, Parents, Design Research, Rural multigrade schools, Rural multigrade education

The study population for the research comprised Grade 9 learners attending three co-educational, independent schools in KwaZulu-Natal in order to determine factors influencing the selection of business studies for FET phase. Methodology involved qualitative and quantitative approaches with closed and open-ended questionnaires plus one-on-one interviews. Descriptive statistics were produced and opened ended questions and interviews were examined for trends and influences. Findings reflected wide divergence in factual information, attitudes, and opinions on significant issues such as expected level of difficulty, influence of educators, parents and peers on selection, amount of work required and value of subject for future studies or careers. Conclusions were that there was a lack of completed research indicating a need for future research, greater preparation was required pre-FET level to assist decision making about selection of the subject which should involve parents, educators and input from the business world. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

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Au Québec, l’enfant est actuellement au centre de son éducation. Les intervenants gravitant autour de lui sont donc appelés à collaborer tout au long de son parcours scolaire afin de l’aider à atteindre son plein potentiel. Cette dynamique de collaboration est d’autant plus nécessaire lorsqu’il s’agit d’élève handicapé ou en difficulté d’adaptation ou d’apprentissage (ÉHDAA) pour qui la réussite éducative n’est pas toujours évidente. Le régime pédagogique de l’éducation préscolaire, de l’enseignement primaire et de l’enseignement secondaire du Québec (Gouvernement du Québec, 2020a) prescrit que des renseignements doivent être fournis une fois par mois aux parents d’enfants ayant des difficultés. Cette transmission de renseignements a pour but de favoriser la collaboration des parents et de l’école. Malheureusement, cette collaboration n’est pas toujours effective et de nombreux facteurs d’obstacles entravent la relation école-famille (Bouchard, St-Amant et coll., 2000 et Kalubi et Lesieux, 2006). Toutefois, en milieu scolaire, le plan d’intervention (PI) est un outil reconnu pour aider l’élève HDAA dans son cheminement scolaire puisqu’il incite, entre autres, à la collaboration entre l’école et la famille et demande l’implication des parents (Gouvernement du Québec, 2004). À cet égard, le PI est une démarche qui s’inscrit dans un « cycle de vie d’un PI dynamique et continu (Myara, 2017, p.52) », au travers d’une collaboration-école-famille permettant de mieux identifier les besoins de l’élève HDAA et d’y répondre. Cette recherche a pour but d’identifier les différentes formes de collaboration-école-famille qui existent entre les enseignants et les parents lors du cycle de vie d’un PI et de déterminer si le programme de formation et d’accompagnement à l’élaboration des PI (FADéPI) permet aux parents de s’y impliquer davantage. Ce faisant, nous avons adopté une approche de recherche mixte qui a été menée auprès de cinq intervenants scolaires et de deux parents d’élèves HDAA. Les données ont été recueillies par le biais d’analyse de canevas de PI, de questionnaires et d’inventaires. L’analyse des résultats semble révéler que bien que les parents participent habituellement aux rencontres de PI, ils n’arrivent pas toujours préparés comme le souhaiteraient les intervenants scolaires. De plus, bien que la littérature soutienne que la collaboration est essentielle à la réussite éducative de l’élève, elle ne semble pas toujours facile à obtenir. Toutefois, il existe diverses formes et périodes de collaboration, divers modes de collaboration et différents niveaux de collaboration, à l’intérieur de la démarche de PI, qui varient selon le degré de relation, le niveau de compétence de l’élève et de la complexité de ses besoins. Quant à l’impact du programme FADéPI sur l’implication parentale, il semble d’une part qu’il pourrait faciliter la participation et l’implication parentale de différentes façons. Toutefois, cette participation ne serait pas nécessairement active et ne découlerait pas d’un véritable partenariat (Bouchard et coll., 1996 et Deslandes, 1999), puisque malgré le désir d’atteindre un but commun et la confiance mutuelle, il ne semblerait pas y avoir une réelle recherche de consensus dans la prise de décision ni même une reconnaissance réciproque d’expertise qui permettrait de créer une relation d’égalité entre les participants. D’autre part, nous avons remarqué que l’accès à un canevas de PI, sur une plateforme, qui documente des objectifs observables, mesurables, qui met en exergue la progression des apprentissages de l’élève, et donne la possibilité aux parents de communiquer en mode synchrone ou asynchrone, favorise les connaissances des parents relatifs au PI de leur enfant et facilite la communication. / In the province of Quebec, children are the focal point of their own education. Teachers and professionals surrounding the student are called upon to collaborate throughout the her or his academic experience in order to help her or him reach their full potential. This collaborative dynamic is even more so essential when it comes to students with a disabilities or for whom educational success is not always obvious. The basic education regulation for preschool, elementary and secondary education in Quebec (Gouvernement du Québec, 2020a) requires that information be provided at least once a month to parents of children with different needs. The purpose of shared information is to encourage collaboration between parents and the school. Unfortunately, this collaboration is not always efficient and many factors hinder a fruitful relationship between the student’s school and family (Bouchard, St-Amant et al., 2000 and Kalubi and Lesieux, 2006). In a school environment, the individualized education program (IEP) is a recognized tool for helping the because students with different needs, it stimulates, among other things, collaboration between the school and the family and requires parent involvement (Government of Quebec, 2004). Actually an IEP is a process which takes part of a dynamic and continuous IEP life cycle (Myara, 2017, p.52)”, throughout a school-family collaboration allowing one to identify and respond to students different needs. This research aims to identify the different forms and modes of school-family collaboration that exist between IEP team members and parents during an IEP life cycle of and determine whether or not the training and support program for IEP development of IEPs (TSIEP) Program allows parents to become more involved. In our method, we adopted a mixed research approach. This was done with the participation of five school resource members and two parents of students with different needs. Data was collected through the analysis of IEPs documents, questionnaires and inventories. The results seems to reveal that although parents usually attend IEP meetings, they do not always arrive as prepared as the school counselors would like. Additionally, although the literature argues that collaboration is essential to a student's educational success, it does not always seem easy to achieve it. However, there are various forms, modes, levels and periods of collaboration during the IEP process, which vary according to the degree of the different relationships, the students competencies and the complexity of her or his needs. As for the impact of the FADéPI program on parental involvement, it seems on the one hand that it could facilitate parental participation and involvement in different ways. However, this participation would not necessarily be proactive and would not result from a true partnership (Bouchard et al., 1996 and Deslandes, 1999), since despite the desire to achieve a common goal and mutual trust, it would not seem there is a real search for consensus in decision-making or even a reciprocal recognition of expertise which would make it possible to create an equal relationship between the participants. On the other hand, we noticed that access to an online IEP template or model, which documents observable, measurable goals, highlights students progress and provides parents with the opportunity to communicate in synchronous or asynchronous mode, promotes parents' knowledge of their child's IEP and facilitates communication.

The aim of this study was to investigate and examine the management and leadership skills that are needed for managing community and parent partnership in the Ilembe District of the KwaZulu-Natal province. The study sought to determine how ineffective management and leadership of parent partnership in rural schools can be detrimental to school, learners, parents and the community at large. The literature study investigated existing theories, programmes, management and leadershipof parental participation and partnership. The theoretical frameworks that informed this study were Epstein’s theories of overlapping sphere and her typology of parentalinvolvement. These frameworks emerging from the review of literatureprovided an expressive perspective for the interpretation of data and recommendations in the final chapter of the study.The study used aqualitative methodologyapproach with a case studyresearch design. This was deemed appropriate as data wascollectedthrough the medium of semi-structured individual interviews andfield notes with 15 participants,and data were analysed using content analysis. The findings revealed that in most schools, ineffective management and leadership of parental participation exist through relationship limitation between the schools and the parents and the community. The study established that ineffective leadership and management of parental, family and community participation revolve around issues like indifferentattitudes of parents, poor communication and a lack ofcordial relationship between parents and the schools. The study recommended that comprehensive knowledge concerning the phenomenon of parent, family and community partnership shouldbecompiled into a national policy on parent, family and community partnership,which is considered vital forrural schoolsin South Africa. / Educational Management and Leadership / M. Ed. (Education Management and Leadership)

This study focused on parental involvement in the learning of children at a private school in Windhoek. Nine parents with children at the Private School were used as participants. This was a qualitative study where semi-structured interviews were used. Findings were that parental involvement leads to children’s academic achievement, enhances children’s self-esteem, encourages children’s participation in sports, and strengthens relationships between parents and teachers thereby facilitating the development of the school. Ways of parental involvement examined included helping with homework, attending parent meetings, and providing children with resources. Barriers to parental involvement included lack of time, economic challenges, lack of understanding of what parental involvement entails and lack of transport. The study established that parental involvement can be achieved through addressing barriers to parental involvement by educating parents on parental involvement and through creating a conducive environment at school level for parents to be involved. / Adult Basic Education (ABET) / M. Ed. (Adult Education)

The National Senior Certificate Examination results for Physical Sciences have recently declined, particularly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. This study identified the causes of poor learner performance in Physical Sciences in grade 12 in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase in public schools in the Pinetown District, KwaZulu-Natal. The study employed a quantitative as well as a qualitative approach. Two public schools in the Pinetown District participated in this study. The identities of all respondents were protected. Upon analysis of the results, several contributory factors for poor performance were identified; no single factor was accountable for poor performance in Physical Sciences. Recommendations for improvement in the areas identified were provided and topics for future research on the curriculum of grade 8 and 9 Natural Science were suggested. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

The purpose of this study was to undertake an investigation into the investigation into the management of Grade 3 mathematics curriculum in a Transformational leadership Approach in Johannesburg East public school which is in D9 District of the Gauteng Department of Education. The role of the Leader in the school is to make sure the educative function us carried out to the desired level. Curriculum management referred to the provision of effective leadership and supervision by HOD's and other education managers of the activities of teaching staff in a school in order to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency with which the curriculum is delivered. The managers must ensure that quality teaching and learning is being provided and it is the responsibility of all education managers. A qualitative approach was undertaken to enable the researcher to explore the experiences, feelings and perceptions of the educators, Heads of department (HODs) and Deputy Principals to have a wider and richer assortment of current, valid and relevant data of how management of Grade 3 Mathematics in curriculum in Transformational Leadership approach. The quality of teaching in schools strongly influences levels of pupil motivation and achievement, Fullan (2001). The managers in schools has been consistently alluded to as the most significant factor in the success and quality of the school’s improvement process (Petersen, 2001: 159) The data collected for the research was analysed by using qualitative techniques and the findings showed that through the responses from the educators, Heads of Department, Principals showed that not enough support was given by the Department, workshops presented were not enough and educators , HOD and Deputy Principals were unable to implement as required. Educators felt that they did not receive proper and enough support from the SMT as the SMT was not fully equipped to support them. The HOD and Deputies responded that they felt limited in taking part in the Grade 3 mathematics curriculum transformational approach as educators were confined to a classroom management style of thinking. The deputy principal, the heads of department and subjects heads in primary schools as formal leaders, all have crucial responsibilities in assist the principal in meeting the school’s instructional goals. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

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