Text in Afrikaans / Performance management and performance appraisal plays a crucial role in developing human resources. In the social work profession the social work supervisor is the person responsible to appraise the performance of the social worker because of the excellent position to observe the job performance directly and consistently. The purpose of this study is to investigate how social work supervisors perform their supervisory functions and apply performance appraisal. The researcher used qualitative research for an exploratory and descriptive study. In-depth interviews were use as data collection method. The sample group was social work supervisors in the employment of the Western Cape Department of Social Development. Performance appraisal can be use to encourage professional growth and development of social workers. Performance appraisal is a supervisory duty and thus a component of administrative, educational and supportive supervision. It seems however that supervisors experience problems with performing supervision and to apply performance appraisal. / Thesis (M.A. (Maatskaplike Werk))

Text in Afrikaans, abstract in Afrikaans and English / Prestasiebeoordeling is van kritiese belang vir die effektiewe bestuur van 'n welsynsorganisasie. Prestasiebeoordeling van maatskaplike werkers word dikwels afgeskeep, foutiewelik uitgevoer en met groot negatiwiteit bejeen. Hierdie verkennend-beskrywende studie het ten doel om wetenskaplik gefundeerde riglyne daar te stel vir die implementering van prestasiebeoordeling ten opsigte van maatskaplike werkers. Die doel is nie om volledige riglyne vir elke aspek van prestasiebeoordeling daar te stel nie, maar om probleme en leemtes vir toekomstige navorsing te identifiseer. Agt en dertig maatskaplike werkers en vier maatskaplikewerkbestuurders se belewenisse van prestasiebeoordeling is deur middel van vraelyste getoets en beskryf. Dit het geblyk dat prestasiebeoordeling van maatskaplike werkers ontwikkelingsgerig is en dat die maatskaplike werkers en maatskaplikewerkbestuurders baat vind by prestasiebeoordeling. Die maatskaplike werkers is van mening dat prestasiebeoordeling aangewend behoort te word vir die identifisering van leemtes en ontwikkelingsareas in die professionele toerusting van maatskaplike werkers. Aanbevelings ten opsigte van aspekte wat vir verdere navorsing oorweeg kan word, is gemaak. / Performance appraisal is critical to the effective management of a welfare organisation. Performance appraisal of social workers are often neglected, implemented incorrectly or regarded within a negative light. This exploratory/ descriptive study aims to set scientifically grounded guidelines for the implementation of performance appraisal with regard to social workers. The aim is not to provide comprehensive guidelines regarding every aspect of perforance appraisal, but to identify gaps and problems which may be studied in future research. Through questionnaires the perceptions of performance appraisal by 38 social workers and four social work managers were tested and described. It seemed that performance appraisal of social workers is geared towards development, and that social workers and social work managers do benefit from performance appraisal. Social workers were of the opinion that performance appraisal should be employed to identify gaps and development areas in equipping social workers professionally. Recommendations are made regarding aspects for further research / Social Work / M. Diac. (Maatskaplike Werk-rigting)

Thesis (D. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2007 / The focus of this study is on a Model of Co-operative Education on Peace Support Operations (PSO) in Africa. PSO are multi-functional operations involving military forces and diplomatic humanitarian agencies. They are designed to achieve humanitarian goals or a long-term political settlement, and are conducted impartially in support of a UN mandate. These include peacekeeping (PK), peace enforcement (PE), conflict prevention, peacemaking, peace building, and humanitarian operations. Since the advent of democracy in 1994, domestic and international expectations have steadily grown regarding a new South African role as a responsible and respected member of the international community. These expectations have included a hope that South Africa will play a leading role in a variety of international, regional and sub-regional forums, and that the country will become an active participant in attempts to resolve various regional and international conflicts. Peacekeeping is becoming more and more important as South Africa plays a vital role in African missions, mandates, deployment and restructuring. The core of peacekeeping operations in Africa is no longer about the deployment of armed forces, but the focus is shifting towards a more integrated approach including reconstruction, development, stability, civilian involvement and humanitarian aspects. While skills required for peace operations overlap with those required for war, there is increasing recognition that additional peace operations training is needed to successfully conduct these missions. The demand, advancement and application of peacekeeping evolve worldwide, especially in Africa, where enormous funding is being poured into local research and development, testing and training. The market for Education, Training and Development (ETD) in the field of PSO is growing, as South Africa is becoming increasingly involved in peacekeeping missions on the African continent. At present, there is no Co-operative Education programme on generic PSO on the operational/strategic level presented by any of the major universities in South Africa in order to enhance other PSO training. The objectives of this research project are in phase one: • To determine the need for and feasibility of a Co-operative Education Program on PSO. • To write a instructional design (ISD) report for a Co-operative Education Model on PSO and, • To draft possible curriculum content. • The second phase of the project could involve the development of learning material, and the evaluation of the proposed Co-operative Education Model on PSO by running a pilot programme. The principal product (output) of this research will consist out of an ISD report on a Model for Co-operative Education on PSO in Africa, presented by means of Correspondence Instruction with contact sessions. The key factors in production of the learning program include geo-political and security studies in order to create an understanding of the African battle space, PSO as presented by UNITAR POCI, the assessment of international practice with regards to PSO in order to relate the information to operations in Africa, PSO on the African continent, and Civil-Military Cooperation.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Education)) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2014 / The goal of the education system is to increase cognitive capacity, competencies and skills such as acquiring new knowledge, recalling facts and figures and applying this information to reasoning, understanding and solving problems. To achieve all these competencies teachers and lecturers traditionally use Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains. The competencies and skills as described by Bloom are measured by standardised intelligence tests. Society takes it for granted that the higher a person’s IQ (Intelligence quotient), the better he/she will perform at school level. But what happens after school? While cognitive intelligence may be able to predict quite accurately how one will perform at school, it predicts very little else in the way of social performance and interaction after school. As such, IQ is a rather weak predictor of performance in interpersonal relations, at work and in coping with a wide variety of challenges that surface in the course of one's life on a daily basis (Wagner, 1997). Some writers makes a strong case that people owe their success in their professional careers to much more than mere IQ. Wagner reviews data and offers convincing cases to show that an IQ above 110, fails as an accurate predictor of success in a career. In other words, you need to be smart enough to handle the cognitive complexity of the information you need for a given role or job, be it engineering, law, medicine, or business. But after reaching this threshold of “smart enough,” your intellect makes little difference. Wagner concludes that IQ alone predicts just 6 to 10 percent of career success. It has been argued for over a century, as early as Charles Darwin that something is missing from the human performance formula that is needed to explain why some people do very well in life while others do not, irrespective of how cognitively intelligent they may be. One of the first attempts by psychologists to identify additional predictors of performance in other aspects of life was made by Edward Thorndike (1920) when he described "social intelligence" as the ability to perceive one's own and others' internal states, motives and behaviours, and to act towards them appropriately on the basis of that information. Mayer, Salovey and Caruso (2000:273) state that emotional intelligence includes “the ability to perceive, appraise and express emotion accurately and adaptively; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; the ability to access and generate feelings where they facilitate cognitive activities and adaptive action; and the ability to regulate emotions in oneself and others”. All of these skills are necessary for the teacher to function successfully in the classroom. The question is: does the modern teacher have the necessary EI skills? This dissertation explores and describes the level of Emotional Intelligence of the first year student teachers at the Central University of Technology, Free State. Seventy-nine (79) students were tested during 2012 and 2013 to establish whether they have the necessary levels of Emotional Intelligence to ensure that they will be able to become good classroom leaders upon entering the teacher’s profession. Traits of Emotional Intelligence were assessed by means of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue). The study investigates the Emotional Intelligence attributes and skills that a teacher will need to become a good classroom leader. The study examines the four main areas tested in the TEIQue, namely the well-being, the emotionality, the sociability and the self-control of the student teacher. Findings suggest that the student teachers still need to develop their emotional intelligence as their results fall in the lower level of the acceptable range.

This dissertation investigates the relationship between work performance and the sense of coherence, using the salutogenesis approach and the influence of employees' biographical variables on work performance. The sense of coherence construct is discussed and conceptualised in terms of its comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. Similarly, work performance is discussed and conceptualised in terms of its dimensions and dynamics. The integration of the literature study characteristics such as the cognitive, affective, conative and interpersonal characteristics were discussed. The research was conducted among 80 employees at a banking institution. The quality of life questionnaire and performance appraisal ratings were used. The relationship between biographical variables such as age, marital status, gender, qualifications, tenure, functional department and work performance were investigated. The results confirmed the empirical investigation that there was not a significant relationship between work performance and SOC. However, a significant relationship was found between job category and work performance, and between age and work performance. Finally, recommendations made for future research included using a bigger sample size in order to improve the generalisation of the findings to other organisational environments, and to further determine the relationship between other aspects of work performance (not just the KPAs) such as the human attributes of work performance and SOC. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The aim of this research is to evaluate the process of the 2005 Excellence in Tuition Awards at the University of South Africa. To achieve this aim an investigation was undertaken into (a) the strengths and weaknesses of the 2005 Awards process and (b) possible ways to improve it for the future. The literature study sought to place the rewarding of quality teaching in the broader framework of international excellence in tuition awards, current criteria (both locally and globally) used in evaluating teaching in higher education, and principles of business process management. The qualitative investigation attempted to provide a contextual understanding of Unisa's experience of awarding excellence in tuition, through an exploration of the experiences of those who were directly involved in the 2005 Excellence in Tuition Awards process at Unisa. The findings serve as basis for guidelines for future Awards processes. / Educational Studies / M. Ed.(Open and Distance Learning)

The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) Grades 10 to 12 (Schools), implemented from 2006, led to changes in promotion requirements and assessment practices. The investigation aimed at acquiring information about the extent to which the differences in the promotion requirements and assessment practices contributed to the high retention rate of learners in the FET Band. An explanatory mixed method strategy was followed to obtain reliable and valid results in this research. Quantitative research consisted of questionnaires and a survey to investigate OBE, assessment practices, the Grade 12 examinations and the impact of changes in promotion requirements since 2006. Qualitative research consisted of an interview with an official from the National Department of Education that contributed to a better understanding of policy changes. Based on the findings of the research, recommendations were constructed to improve assessment practices and to provide scientific data on the consequences of policy changes on the promotion of learners. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Educational Management)

The study examines the effectiveness of the implementation of Developmental Appraisal (DA) within the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) in selected secondary schools in Matlosana, North West Province. The methods used to gather information includes the literature review and the empirical investigation, based on the qualitative research approach, which involved six focus group interviews from the six sampled secondary schools in Matlosana Area Project Office, in the North West Province. The review of related literature revealed that there are roles and responsibilities officials are tasked with; processes; challenges; and effective strategies when implementing DA. The empirical investigation revealed that there are challenges that hamper the effective implementation of DA in schools. The challenges include: inadequate support from the Area Project Office; lack of resources for educator development; inadequate time frames for implementation; disruption of normal teaching and learning; lack of honesty on the part of the appraisee and appraiser; and conflict. At the end, the study recommends some strategies that can be used to overcome some of these challenges. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Educational Management)

Existing scales were modified and factor-analysed through "prepilof' and pilot studies for exploring relations between academic motivation, achievement, and cognitive factors such as locus of control (LOC), attributions, perceived self-determination and ability. Distinct, conceptually meaningful factors emerged. Thirty-seven hypotheses were tested on Unisa students. Among notable findings were: • Internal LOC related to academic motivation, but treating LOC as a set of distinct factors rather than a bipolar dimension offered more insights (e.g. "Impotence" rather than other external LOC factors related negatively to · achievement). • Little was gained from categorising attributions according to Weiner's dimensions. • Intrinsic motivation and "identified regulation" related positively to motivation. • Students' (especially unsuccessful students') expectations of success and perceptions of their ability were over-estimated. • Different factors related to motivation and achievement in different cultural groups. • Although motivation and achievement are usually positively related, this did not apply to disadvantaged groups. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Text in Afrikaans, abstract in Afrikaans and English / Die doel van hierdie navorsing was om te bepaal of betekenisvolle verskille bestaan tussen werknemerdoeltreffendheid en persepsies van gehalte van werklewe van bemagtigde en niebemagtigde skofwerkers in die Suid-Afrikaanse petrochemiese bedryf. Skofwerknavorsing het gedurende die afgelope dekade internasionaal toegeneem. Hiermee gepaardgaande het verskeie intervensies ontstaan om die doeltreffendheid van skofwerkers en hulle gehalte van werklewe te bevorder. Deur gebruik te maak van 'n gekombineerde vraelys ("Standard Shiftwork Index") en werklike data ten opsigte van afwesigheid en prestasiebeoordelings, is 'n steekproef van 102 gevalle geanaliseer. 'n 90 persent betroubaarheidinterval is gebruik om waardes ten opsigte van elke veranderlike te bepaal. Daar is bevind dat werknemerbemagtiging weinig invloed het op skofwerkers se werkbywoning. Daar is ook gevind dat werknemerbemagtiging nie lei tot 'n meer positiewe persepsie, by toesighouers, van skofwerkwerkers se algemene werkprestasie nie. Daar is egter bevind dat skofwerkers se persepsies van hulle gehalte van werklewe, ten opsigte van werkdissatisfaksie, chroniese vermoeidheid en tevredenheid met sosiale omstandighede, wel positiefbelnvloed word deur werknemerbemagtiging. Aanbevelings is gemaak ten opsigte van die aanwending van werknemerbemagtiging, as intervensie in skofwerkomgewings, asook vir verdere skofwerknavorsing in Suid-Afrika. / The purpose of this research was to determine if significant differences exist between employee effectiveness and perceptions of quality of working life of empowered and non-empowered shiftworkers in the South-African petrochemical industry. By using the Standard Shiftwork Index and real absenteeism and appraisal data, a sample of 102 cases was analysed. A 90 percent confidence interval was used to determine t-values for variables. It was found that empowerment has little influence on the work attendance of shiftworkers and that empowerment does not lead to more positive perceptions of general work performance of shiftworkers, among their supervisors. It was, however, found that shiftworkers' perceptions of their quality of working life are improved by empowerment in respect of work dissatisfaction, chronic fatigue and satisfaction with social circumstances. Suggestions were made concerning the use of empowerment, as an intervention, in shiftwork environments and for future shiftwork research in South-Africa. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Bedryfsielkunde)