<p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Syftet med detta examensarbete är att bidra med kunskap om vilka möjligheter, samt svårigheter det finns med att implementera en ny läroplan. För att vidare konkretisera syftet har tre frågeställningar tagits fram:</p><p>1. Vad har verksamma inom skolväsendet i Sydafrika för uppfattningar om den nya läroplanen?</p><p>2. Vilka möjligheter samt hinder ser de verksamma inom skolväsendet i Sydafrika med den nya läroplanen?</p><p>3. Vad har implementeringsarbetet inneburit för de verksamma inom skolväsendet i Sydafrika?</p><p>För att besvara mina frågeställningar så har jag genomfört tre kvalitativa intervjuer. Två av intervjuerna genomförde jag med lärare på en sydafrikansk lågstadieskola, och den tredje med en skolinspektör från det regionala skolkontoret. Förutom intervjuerna har jag även genomfört en strukturerad observation hos de två lärarna jag intervjuade.</p><p>Resultatet av min undersökning visar ett samband mellan den utbildning som givits de verksamma inom skolväsendet i Sydafrika om den nya läroplanen, samt deras inställning till den. Undersökningen visar även att det råder stora skillnader i kvalité mellan olika skolor, och att de fortfarande är de traditionellt svarta skolområdena som tillhandahåller sämre kvalité, på grund av bristande resurser.</p> / <p>Abstract</p><p>The purpose of this essay is to contribute with knowledge about which possibilities and difficulties there is about implementing a new curriculum. To further concrete the purpose, three issues has been developed:</p><p>1. What perceptions do the active in the South African schooling have about the new curriculum?</p><p>2. Which possibilities and difficulties does the active in the South African schooling see with the new curriculum?</p><p>3. What has the implementation work meant to the active in the South African schooling?</p><p>In order to reply to my issues I did three qualitative interviews. Two of the interviews I conducted with teachers of a South African primary school, and the third with a school inspector from the regional school office. Beside the interviews I also did a structured observation of the two teachers I interviewed.</p><p>The result of my study showed a link between the education given to the active in the South African schooling about the new curriculum, and their attitude against it. The study also showed that it occurs big differences in words of quality between different schools, and that it’s still the traditional black school areas that provide lower quality, because of lack of resources.</p>

Sammanfattning Syftet med detta examensarbete är att bidra med kunskap om vilka möjligheter, samt svårigheter det finns med att implementera en ny läroplan. För att vidare konkretisera syftet har tre frågeställningar tagits fram: 1. Vad har verksamma inom skolväsendet i Sydafrika för uppfattningar om den nya läroplanen? 2. Vilka möjligheter samt hinder ser de verksamma inom skolväsendet i Sydafrika med den nya läroplanen? 3. Vad har implementeringsarbetet inneburit för de verksamma inom skolväsendet i Sydafrika? För att besvara mina frågeställningar så har jag genomfört tre kvalitativa intervjuer. Två av intervjuerna genomförde jag med lärare på en sydafrikansk lågstadieskola, och den tredje med en skolinspektör från det regionala skolkontoret. Förutom intervjuerna har jag även genomfört en strukturerad observation hos de två lärarna jag intervjuade. Resultatet av min undersökning visar ett samband mellan den utbildning som givits de verksamma inom skolväsendet i Sydafrika om den nya läroplanen, samt deras inställning till den. Undersökningen visar även att det råder stora skillnader i kvalité mellan olika skolor, och att de fortfarande är de traditionellt svarta skolområdena som tillhandahåller sämre kvalité, på grund av bristande resurser. / Abstract The purpose of this essay is to contribute with knowledge about which possibilities and difficulties there is about implementing a new curriculum. To further concrete the purpose, three issues has been developed: 1. What perceptions do the active in the South African schooling have about the new curriculum? 2. Which possibilities and difficulties does the active in the South African schooling see with the new curriculum? 3. What has the implementation work meant to the active in the South African schooling? In order to reply to my issues I did three qualitative interviews. Two of the interviews I conducted with teachers of a South African primary school, and the third with a school inspector from the regional school office. Beside the interviews I also did a structured observation of the two teachers I interviewed. The result of my study showed a link between the education given to the active in the South African schooling about the new curriculum, and their attitude against it. The study also showed that it occurs big differences in words of quality between different schools, and that it’s still the traditional black school areas that provide lower quality, because of lack of resources.

Abstract When Curriculum 2005 was introduced into South African schools in 1998, it was considered too cumbersome in design and its language too complex. In accordance with the recommendations of the Ministerial Review Committee (2000) it was revised into the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS). The language was simplified; it was streamlined to critical, developmental and learning outcomes and assessment standards. Teachers were expected to produce these outcomes and provision was to be made for improved teacher orientation and training, learning support materials and provincial support to teachers in schools. The study looks at how the RNCS is being provided for in terms of the support structures and programmes available to teachers working in the Learning Area of English in Grade Seven within the Senior Phase (Grades 7-9). Firstly, by identifying the competences expected from teachers and secondly, by trying to establish the extent to which these structures and programmes are effectively assisting teachers to achieve the required competences and learning outcomes.

The principal and teachers of a small independent South African school noticed a significant gap in the implementation of an effective Intermediate Phase (IP) reading curriculum. The principal decided to establish a Community of Inquiry (CoI) at the school to focus on this problem, and to research the process. The main purpose of this research was to investigate the affordances and constraints of the establishment of a CoI for the professional development of teachers as an instructional leadership intervention by the principal. The sub-questions that emerged from the main research question were: what would be the affordances and constraints of the principal establishing, facilitating and researching the CoI; what would be to the benefit of the teachers (and their learners) of establishing such a community for professional development and reading instruction in the IP; and, what processes are entailed in establishing an in-school CoI? To what degree, if any, would the CoI be a generating space to answer the research questions and aims? The literature review for the study explored the means of professional development available to educators and principals, especially Professional Learning Communities and their more focused interventions – Communities of Inquiry, and that professional development needs to target four levels – the teacher, their teaching, the community and collegiality at the school, and the principal as a developmental leader, in order for there to be an improvement in students’ learning. The concerning South African context with regard to reading in the IP was outlined, as well as that in the school. The South African curriculum IP learning outcomes and assessment standards for reading were critically explored against the backdrop of international curricula. The process of learning to read was traced. Hindrances to effective reading were also explored. The qualitative research design was an applied case study. Grounded Theory methods were used to reduce the data from the transcripts of CoI sessions. The findings of the research were that there are many affordances to establishing an in-school CoI, and that these benefits far outweigh the constraints. The CoI provided a germinating locus in which participants could begin to address the problems related to reading and reading instruction in the IP. It enabled the principal to develop as an instructional leader, and the teachers to develop as professionals and reading instructors. In hindsight, this project was a vital one, but considerably ambitious, difficult to implement, and perhaps even constrained in the sense of the principal establishing, facilitating and researching this process herself. However, without the principal driving, facilitating and researching the CoI, the question emerges whether such an intervention would have been established. Sometimes external insistences from authority can provide valuable impetus for change at schools, as long as these are sensitively handled and one has the support and trust of participants. The actual acceleration in learning that the participants experienced was extensive, and, sometimes it is only the principal that can play this role – especially in newly established communities. Much more research and support for principals in becoming instructional leaders and in establishing CoIs at their schools is required in the South African context.

Formal state-controlled education has been a central element for social development in South Africa since the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The establishment and promotion of a culture of learning and teaching is regarded as a pre-condition for high educational standards. This thesis is a study of the role of the state in the establishment of a culture of learning and teaching in South Africa from 1910 to 2004. To understand the role that the state played in promoting, or inhibiting, a culture of learning and teaching, a historical review was taken of the state's role in formal schooling in the period of the Union (1910-1947), the era of apartheid (1948-1989), the transitional period (1990-1994) and in the era of the democratic South Africa. As an ideal, the state has a responsibility to ensure the establishment of a culture of learning and teaching. The historical review revealed, however, that the state used its policies to promote political rather than educational ideologies - and in the process, there was a complete breakdown in a culture of learning and teaching. The establishment and promotion of a culture of learning and teaching towards the maintenance of high academic standards in South African state schools was the motivating force behind this study. Therefore, this study concludes with guidelines and recommendations grounded in the historical review that will hopefully promote a culture of learning and teaching in South African schools in future. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (History of Education)

Formal state-controlled education has been a central element for social development in South Africa since the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The establishment and promotion of a culture of learning and teaching is regarded as a pre-condition for high educational standards. This thesis is a study of the role of the state in the establishment of a culture of learning and teaching in South Africa from 1910 to 2004. To understand the role that the state played in promoting, or inhibiting, a culture of learning and teaching, a historical review was taken of the state's role in formal schooling in the period of the Union (1910-1947), the era of apartheid (1948-1989), the transitional period (1990-1994) and in the era of the democratic South Africa. As an ideal, the state has a responsibility to ensure the establishment of a culture of learning and teaching. The historical review revealed, however, that the state used its policies to promote political rather than educational ideologies - and in the process, there was a complete breakdown in a culture of learning and teaching. The establishment and promotion of a culture of learning and teaching towards the maintenance of high academic standards in South African state schools was the motivating force behind this study. Therefore, this study concludes with guidelines and recommendations grounded in the historical review that will hopefully promote a culture of learning and teaching in South African schools in future. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (History of Education)