Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1989 / Title from title page screen, viewed October 17, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Mary Ann Lynn, John L.Brickell (co-chairs), David DeLay, Donald Kachur, Rodney Riegle. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-138) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Education))--Rhodes University, 2006.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1995. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 17, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Paul J. Baker, Robert L. Fisher (co-chairs), Dianne E. Ashby, James C. Palmer, William C. Rau, David L. Tucker. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-142) and abstract. Also available in print.

This study offers an explanation of enabling and / or constraining factors in Zimbabwe‘s 3-3-3 secondary teacher education model for Post ‗O‘ Level Science. It is a theory driven study that derives its theoretical foundation from Roy Bhaskar‘s critical realism and Margaret Archer‘s morphogenetic approach to reality. The study therefore offers explanations about structural, cultural and agential influences that facilitate and / or hinder the 3-year program for Post ‗O‘ Level Science. This was a qualitative case study of one secondary teacher education college in Zimbabwe. Qualitative data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. One official from the Department of Teacher Education(DTE) at the University of Zimbabwe(UZ),the Principal, the Vice Principal and 10 lecturers from the studied college,3 Heads of Science department in secondary schools,3mentors and 5 groups of 10 and 11eleven student teachers participated in the study. The DTE Handbook (2012), vision and mission statements and core values of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development (MHTESTD),DTE and the studied college, syllabuses, teaching practice reports, policy documents, external examining reports, College Academic Board (CAB) minutes, admission records, mark profiles and pass lists among other relevant documents complemented interview data. As a theory driven study, structural, cultural and agential influences were found to be enabling and / or constraining the model. The acute shortage of Science teachers in secondary schools and the few Post ‗A‘ Level Science graduates led to the re-introduction of the 3- year Post ‗O‘ Level Science program in secondary teacher education colleges. The bureaucratic structures in educational institutions, the In-Out-In structure, institutional structures such as the family, the University, the studied college, secondary schools, infrastructural facilities, material and financial resources, transport facilities and utilities such as water, electricity and the internet were established as some among other structural factors affecting the 3-3-3 model. Discourses held about the teaching profession, the vision, mission and core values of the MHTESTD,DTE and the studied college, beliefs about what Science teachers should learn, knowledge, skills, attitudes and values they should acquire and how they should be taught were established as cultural factors enabling and / or constraining the 3-3-3 model. Agential influences offering causal explanation for enablers and / or constrainers of the model were established as the decision by the Principal and the CAB to re-introduce the 3- year Post ‗O‘ Level Science program, the decision by the students to enroll for the program, the recruitment of under qualified students, the use of various teaching methods, conducting staff development and mentorship workshops and failure to increase staff establishment. The study has put forth recommendations for the improvement on constraining factors in pre-service teacher education programs. With the understanding that agency has power to reinforce or transform structures and cultures, it should not be seen to be reinforcing disadvantaged structural positions and cultures; instead, after having identified structural and cultural constrainers, it should engage in communicative and meta-reflexivity to come up with the best possible solutions to the hindrances. Courses of action should then be taken accordingly.

D.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / The subject of this research was defined as : the devising of strategies for increased teacher involvement in curriculum development, with a view to improving the quality of education. This effort to develop a paradigm for curriculum development showed that such a paradigm should be constructed using both philosophical and relevant procedural points of departure. Study of the literature and of personal correspondence received from developed countries indicated that the teacher should only be expected to participate in those areas of curriculum development which correspond to his training. In developed countries aspirant teachers receive training, not only in curriculum development at the microlevel (lesson planning), but also to equip them for involvement in curriculum development on the mesolevel. Training for the latter activity involves the acquisition of specific knowledge and skills in the field of curriculum development...

M.Ed. / This research dissertation sought to discover how teachers have interacted with the New Curriculum, it is, the newly designed Curriculum 2005 (C2005) and the subsequent Revised New Curriculum Statement that featured in the educational realm in South Africa in recent years. It was an attempt at discovering both the mental and physical attributes that teachers conveyed whilst implementing the Curriculum. The qualitative research approach was used in the study, which allowed for an in-depth insight into the day to day successes or failures that both teachers and learners experienced in the classroom. With the use of the interview guide, responses that surfaced, gave the researcher the opportunity to divulge further into the weaknesses or strengths that the New Curriculum possesses. The researcher discovered through this study that there were many controversial issues that surrounded the implementation of the New Curriculum. Thus, the focus remained on the how the most important stakeholders, the teachers, expressed their views pertaining to the Curriculum. The study provided evidence that suggests that teachers need to and should be included in all curriculum planning processes. / Dr. M.C. van Loggerenberg

D.Ed. / The research study focused on how teachers respond to policy demands given the challenges of rural education and dominating policy discourses and how their professional learning is shaped by these conditions and limitations. In particular I wanted to learn and document what and how teachers learn as they engage in Integrated Quality Management Systems. This study was conducted because there is an outcry of poor examinations results in some rural schools, which could be linked to poor implementation of policies. To respond to this outcry the Teacher Learning Framework which could be used by teachers was developed. The investigation into teacher learning processes when they engage in policy implementation was designed as an interpretive ethnographic study and was conducted in a disadvantaged rural primary school in Ladysmith, in KwaZulu Natal, in South Africa. The study involved five teachers and it was undertaken as an action research study in two cycles. The purpose of cycle one was to verify how teachers presented lessons in terms of policy requirements and guidelines, and authenticate how they learn in the process about their teaching, learners, themselves, and policy requirements. Lessons conducted by teachers were observed and the reflections were also made by two teachers. This was done also as a strategy to gather data. In cycle one, data revealed that teachers were not in a position to implement what they planned to implement. Teachers gave themselves time to plan for cycle two in order to improve on the shortcomings in cycle one. Teachers appeared to have prepared their lessons well, involving learners. Some teachers indicated clear lessons steps which were followed in the classroom. Even before they went to teach in class, they discussed their lessons plans which contributed to the improvement in cycle two. As a process of data gathering, five teachers were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed. As a second level of data analysis which was towards developing the Teacher Professional Learning Framework, all the data types were visited with the aim of extracting and discovering codes and categories across data types. These codes and categories were used in a more thorough grounded analysis to formulate a Teacher Professional Learning Framework.

M.Ed. (Environmental Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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Fleisch (2002) and Jansen and Christie (1999) hold that implementation of the national school curriculum in post-apartheid South Africa was riddled with uncertainties, ineffective classroom management and a general lack of academic performance by learners, mainly as a result of inadequate training and support (SMTs) to support the implementation process through proper planning and subsequent management of the implementation (Rogan and Grayson, 2003:1172-1195). Middlewood (2003a: 66- 68) thus assigns the primary responsibility of planning, managing and overseeing the curriculum implementation process to the SMT. Research problem and question 1 In the context of this study, the School Management Team (SMT) includes the school principal, the deputy-principal and the head(s) of department(s) or senior teachers. 4 for teachers in the classroom. Having considered the above essential aspects related to curriculum implementation, there is thus reason to be concerned about the effectiveness of curriculum implementation in South African schools, specifically in rural schools. Due to their remoteness, limited resources, and fluctuating quality of teacher expertise, these schools are often more challenged in terms of curriculum implementation (Delport and Mangwaya, 2008:224). Although there are many factors affecting the (in)effectiveness of implementation, this study regards a school’s curriculum implementation plans and the subsequent management of these implementation plans as crucial to ensuring successful implementation of a new curriculum. The central research problem that guided this study thus relates to the planning and subsequent management of curriculum implementation at school level. The above problem has culminated in the formulation of the following research question: How do selected rural schools plan and manage curriculum implementation?.