This study is about documenting rural principals' stories, and voices regarding their experiences of education policy changes and how such changes are impacting on their day-to-day management lives. In capturing their experiences and voices, interpretive approach was used to allow the researcher to get behind their skins and faces and be one of them. Rapid changes sometimes overwhelm those people tasked with the responsibility of implementing changes. The study involved 5 cases, purposefully chosen, in the rural district around Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Formal and informal conversations were held with principals, School Management Team members, and educators. These conversations were complemented by planned participatory observations, as well as, unannounced visits to the sampled schools. The data produced have shown similarities and differences in these rural communities. They are deeply poor, suffering from the lack of shelter, food, health, clean water, transport, electricity and services. HIV/AIDS is taking enormous tolls in every aspect of community. Unemployment is high and emigration of working-age adults disrupts families, which are left largely as comprised of grandmothers and children. Literacy levels are high, at the same time, the sense of community from the past, now and future is generally high. The communities share similar histories as part of the Zulu nation, through colonialism and apartheid, political-cultural struggles, of the African National Congress/lnkatha Freedom Party conflict, the pressures of modernisation and globalisation. They live on Tribal Authority land, in a confusion of traditional leadership and democratic governance. They see themselves as marginalised, and they are. The socio-cultural, and political confusion is everywhere, at many different levels. Schools themselves are Western imports in their structure and purposes with a history in the rural areas being kept from community life; the language of schooling is not the language of the community, and neither is the content of the curriculum the knowledge in the community. There are commonalities and differences between schools. While similarities are clear; they share conception of 'school', all are situated in similar communities, with educators sharing similar backgrounds and education, there are also differences, for example, resources and facilities they have, matric results, the nature of School Governing Bodies and differences of priorities, the fundamental differences in management and leadership styles used, namely 'open-participatory', 'closed-participatory' and 'authoritative-participatory' styles. The data have indicated that these principals are highly intentional leaders, with their intentionality playing themselves out differently at school level, largely because of their different personalities and histories. Rural principals are working under challenging environment, fending for themselves, and resort to doing things their own ways, irrespective of policy dictates. The Education Department plays an obstructionist role instead of supporting quality education provision. Principals use unconventional strategies to move forward. Recommendations to the department include the following: consult properly before policies can be implemented; consider diversity; provide thorough training for educators in order that Outcomes Based Education can be effectively implemented. Recommendations to secondary schools principals include the following: use available policies to get schools functional; involve educators meaningfully in governance and management; be creative and innovative, and try to understand demands of agency of transformation. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

With the current scourge of HIV and AIDS among the youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, sexuality education has been hailed as the vaccine against new infections. This places teachers at the forefront of the pandemic as facilitators of knowledge. This study explores women teachers’ experiences of teaching sexuality education in rural schools in the age of HIV and AIDS. As a participant researcher, I have worked through photo-voice, drawings, memory work, and focus group discussions with eight Basotho women teachers, and explored how womanhood and teacher-hood shape and reshape each other in becoming a sexuality education woman teacher. I highlight the gender dynamics characteristic of rural communities and how they play out in the construction of sexuality discourses in relation to women teachers, and how such constructions create im/possibilities for women teachers’ facilitation of sexuality education. An eclectic theoretical approach, with an emphasis on feminist theories, informed the study. A qualitative research design employing a phenomenological narrative approach has been used. The findings show women teachers experiencing the teaching of sexuality education as a challenge. Their experiences are reflected as shaping and being shaped by their understandings regarding sexuality, and their positioning as women and teachers within rural communities. Challenges that create impossibilities for women teachers’ effective facilitation of sexuality education include the patriarchal gender order in Lesotho, cultural practices, teachers’ own sexualities and teachers’ fears of contravening the social constructions of good womanhood. I argue that Basotho women teachers are facing a challenge of negotiating the socially constructed contestations between normalised womanhood and teacher-hood and thus choose to perform the normalised womanhood at the expense of teacher-hood. The womanhood they perform shapes their teacher identity such that woman teacher-hood in sexuality education becomes ineffective. This study makes unique contributions to the field of sexuality education in particular and feminist scholarship in general. The methodological contribution lies in the use of visual methods to illuminate women teachers’ positioning in relation to sexuality education. While previous studies in sexuality education have been on pedagogy, this study presents a body of knowledge based on a gendered analysis of women teachers’ embodied experiences of teaching sexuality education and the meanings they make of their experiences. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Rural schools in South Africa often face numerous challenges that are largely aggravated by low numbers of learners, low numbers of teachers and a shortage of teaching and learning resources, to mention a few. Hence, the provision of one teacher per grade is perceived as a luxury in many rural schools. Consequently, such challenges have led to many rural schools being affected by multi-grade teaching. Multi-grade classes have more than one grade in one classroom, usually those grades that are close to each other. For instance, Grade R and Grade One learners will be taught in one class by the same teacher. This research study therefore focused on teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for teaching literacy in a multi-grade foundation phase class. The teaching of reading in isiZulu Home Language was singled out as the literacy component to be investigated. Teachers at the foundation phase need to have a distinctive body of knowledge as they have to be able to blend content in literacy and the appropriate methods of teaching each literacy component. They need to understand how to organize each component of the content and how to deliver it accurately to learners through appropriate methodologies. Moreover, it is imperative to understand that it is a complex process for teachers to intersect content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. The process becomes even more complex for teachers who teach in a multi-grade class. Reading as a literacy component was put under a particular lens as teaching and assessing this literacy component in a multi-grade context is highly challenging. This was an exploratory case study that was embedded in a qualitative research methodology. A primary school from Ndwedwe Circuit in the KwaZulu-Natal province was purposively sampled. Empirical data for this study were collected from this rural school because it was practising multi-grade teaching in all phases. To collect the data, teachers teaching multi-grade classes were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Observations were also done during the teaching process and relevant documents were analysed. The documents that were interrogated included daily, weekly and monthly work plans, class timetables, and the school’s calendar. The findings suggested that teachers relied on traditional methods of teaching as the context was complex and beyond their professional capabilities. This study was therefore aimed at contributing to the discourse of how teachers in rural contexts can be trained on multi-grade teaching in order to provide them with appropriate pedagogical knowledge and skills that will empower them to support teaching and learning across grades. / Thesis (M. Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of school-to-work programs on cognitive engagement from the students’ perspective. The study was guided by the question: “How do students perceive their cognitive engagement in learning when participating in school-to-work transition programs”? Using a case study methodology, data were collected from ten students at a rural high school using semi-structured interviews, and were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The results show an increase in cognitive engagement and the motivation to graduate as a result of participation in the school-to-work program. This increase in cognitive engagement is attributed to the students’ career preparedness, and the hands-on practical experiences gained from the program. By studying the students’ perception of their own engagement we gain a better understanding of the contributing factors that lead to increased cognitive engagement and motivation levels.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Idaho, 2005. / Also available online in PDF format. Abstract. "April 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-118).

The study investigates how rural Grade 4 teachers and learners experience the transition from Oshikwanyama to English as a medium of instruction. The study was conducted at a rural school in Oshana region in northern Namibia. The research site and participants were purposefully selected. Grade 4 teachers and learners were interviewed and observed. Relevant documents were also analyzed. The purpose was to understand participants’ experiences, perceptions and practices in relation to their experience of the transition to English medium instruction. The study revealed out that both Grade 4 teachers and learners are struggling to teach and learn through the medium of English. This was borne out by participants’ responses, classroom practices and document analysis, especially learners’ oral presentation and written work. The conclusion is drawn that limitations in English proficiency overshadow the good intentions of the curriculum. This was evident in the fact that Grade 4 learners at a selected school found it difficult to cope with the demands of the curriculum. In addition, most of the learners have poor literacy skills even in their mother tongue, Oshikwanyama. In the linguistic sense, proficiency in the first language can pave the way for second language to flourish. If the reverse is the case then the learner might find it difficult to acquire linguistic skills in the second language. The study concludes that for the sake of effective learning, an intervention on professional development needs to be in place. This might help rural lower primary teachers to upgrade their existing skills particularly in terms of the English language proficiency as well as how to prepare learners for the transition to English.

Rural education in South Africa, particularly within the black communities, has suffered neglect under Apartheid education policies. This has resulted in an array of problems which continue to beset the country's education system. The community, through its various institutions, has a major role to play in the whole education renewal process. The business sector is one such a community institution, which is directly affected by the quality of school education. Countries such as Britain and the U.S. provide excellent examples of close co-operation between business and schools in an effort to prepare pupils in accordance with the needs of the workplace. The qualitative study conducted in schools, within the Dzumeri community, showed that there is a dire need for business involvement with schools in order to address important areas of mutual concern. It is finally recommended that the government must formulate enabling policies, which will promote business education partnership activities and ensure proper coordination at all administrative levels / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Comparative Education)

This work aims to identify and think over the process of deterritorialization of the Countryside Schools of the city Dona Francisca/RS. Weaving a broad approach of the global context for the research action’s place in the city under this study, directed to education in order to better elucidate the cessation of these schools. The general purpose of this work is to understand the historical, environmental, social, economic and cultural processes that led to the deterritorialization of the Schools in the Countryside of the city Dona Francisca/RS. The specific objectives are: to identify the implementation of rural schools in the city; to verify the issues related to public policies in countryside education; and to argue about the possibilities and the limitations of permanence of the Tiradentes School in the countryside of the city Dona Francisca/RS. This research is arranged as a case study, using a qualitative approach, with observations in the communities, fieldwork, interviews, mapping and images capture. In this context, there is still a territorialized school, while the others have followed the reverse process, which means, the deterritorialization. Closed schools in the countryside denote the rural exodus, the disarticulation of the community, and disconnected public policies to the needs of working and needy population. / Este trabalho busca identificar e refletir sobre o processo da desterritorialização das Escolas no Campo do município de Dona Francisca/RS, tecendo uma abordagem abrangente, do todo para o local de ação da pesquisa no município em estudo, direcionada à educação com o intuito de melhor elucidar a cessação das escolas. O objetivo geral é compreender os processos históricos, ambientais, sociais, econômicos e culturais que ocasionaram a desterritorialização das Escolas no Campo no Município de Dona Francisca/RS. Os objetivos específicos são: identificar a implantação das escolas rurais no município; verificar questões referentes às políticas públicas direcionadas à educação do campo; e argumentar sobre as possibilidades e limites da permanência da Escola Tiradentes no campo do Município de Dona Francisca/RS. A pesquisa organiza-se como um estudo de caso, em uma abordagem qualitativa, com observações nas comunidades, pesquisa a campo, entrevistas, elaborando mapeamento e captura de imagens. Nesse percurso, encontra-se uma escola territorializada, sendo que as demais seguiram o processo inverso, ou seja, a desterritorialização. Escolas fechadas do campo representam o êxodo rural, a desarticulação da comunidade e a aplicação de políticas públicas desconexas com as necessidades da população trabalhadora e mais necessitada.

Afrikaans language thesis. Abstract in Afrikaans and English. / Many learners in rural primary schools do not use the opportunities which exist or which are being created by schools to participate in sport. As learners grow older and proceed through school, a tendency of diminishing numbers of sports participants is being observed. These are not necessarily learners who do not have any talent or sporting ability, they simply do not participate. This study is focused on the reasons and problems why specifically grade seven learners of rural schools do not participate or have dwindling participating numbers. The study does not only focus on participation but also on effective participation. A thorough literature review has revealed that there are mainly three obstacles, namely: interest, embedded constraints and structural obstacles. Research has revealed several problems why learners do not participate in sport or physical activity. This supports the reasons for the diminishing number of participants which was found in the study. The literature also shows that knowledge of sport is needed for effective participation. Questionnaires were used to gather information from grade seven learners, teachers and school principals. The research period was from July to September 2009. The questionnaires were handled personally by the researcher to ensure a consistent approach. The data from the questionnaires were analysed through the use of tables. This study confirmed three main obstacles which were mentioned earlier as the reasons for the diminishing numbers of sport participants. The interest in sport is dwindling because learners indicated that they just don't like sport and that they do not enjoy it. With regard to the embedded constraints learners indicated that they are physically not always able because of a lack of potential and ability. The structural obstacles were the most common factors, such as time constraints, domestic and family responsibilities, finances and transport. Recommendations regarding this study are set out in Chapter Five.

Esta tese investiga trajetórias de formação de professoras de escolas rurais do Brasil, da Bolívia e do México. Por meio de entrevistas biográficas buscou-se a partir das memórias de vida e formação das professoras, relações, diferenças e articulações em seus relatos de vida e itinerários formativos. A tese se desenvolve na linha de quatro grandes questionamentos que foram organizados em quatro partes. A primeira se ocupa das questões teóricas, na qual são apresentadas discussões mais gerais sobre formação de professores até as especificidades da educação rural no Brasil, na Bolívia e no México. Especificamente no contexto brasileiro apresenta-se um levantamento de dados sobre as pesquisas acerca da formação de professores de escolas rurais produzidas nos anos de 2000 a 2011, disponíveis no banco de dados da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) situando as principais questões presentes no debate nacional sobre formação de professores de escolas rurais. Além disso, há discussões sobre a formação de professores de escolas rurais no Maranhão, de onde são provenientes três das cinco professoras entrevistadas nesta pesquisa. A segunda parte trata do método e contexto de realização da pesquisa ou o campo de pesquisa, um quilombo, um assentamento vinculado ao Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), uma comunidade sem vínculo com os movimentos sociais, no caso brasileiro; uma comunidade rural chamada San Juan del Chaco, na Bolívia e Oaxaca, no México. Discute-se o método biográfico e abordagem da análise de conteúdo como abordagens teórico-metodológicas da pesquisa, além das cinco categorias de análise: trajetórias de formação profissional, práticas de docência, conhecimento da profissão, permanência na profissão e na docência rural e memórias da vida, trabalho e formação. A terceira é devotada à análise dos dados. Nela se verifica, dentre outras questões, que as cinco professoras são pertencentes à classe popular, tiveram dificuldades de acesso aos processos de escolarização e profissionalização docente, possuem, portanto, memórias de sofrimento e superação, encontraram na militância em organizações e movimentos sociais formas de combater a invisibilidade das escolas rurais, assim como, de compreender suas trajetórias de vida e de formação. A quarta, e última, parte apresenta considerações finais, limitações da pesquisa e, finalmente, propostas para as escolas rurais e formação de professores. A tese constata, deste modo, que não há nos três países políticas públicas consolidadas de educação rural, bem como, de formação de professores para as áreas rurais. / This thesis investigates learning paths of rural school teachers from Brazil, Bolivia and Mexico. Through biographical interviews it sought since the living memories and training of teachers, relationships, differences and joints in their reports of life and training routes. The thesis develops in the line of four major questions that were organized in four parts. The first, deals with the theoretical questions, in which are presented the general discussions from teacher training to the specificities of rural education in the three countries. Specifically in the Brazilian context is presented a data collection on researches about the formation of rural school teachers produced in the years 2000-2011, available in the database of Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) [Higher Education Personnel Improvement Coordination], placing the main issues present in the national debate on training rural school teachers. In addition, there are discussions about the formation of rural school teachers in Maranhão, from where came three of the five teachers interviewed for this research. The second part deals with the method and the context of achievement the research or of the research field, a quilombo, a settlement linked to the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) [Landless Workers\' Movement], a community without ties with the social movements in the Brazilian case; a rural community called San Juan del Chaco in Bolivia and Oaxaca, in Mexico. It discusses the biographical method and the approach of content analysis as a theoretical and methodological approaches to research, besides the five categories of analysis: professional learning paths, teaching practices, professional knowledge, permanence in the profession and in the rural teaching and memories Life, work and training. The third is devoted to data analysis. Here can be verified, among other issues, that the five teachers are belonging to the working class, had poor access to schooling processes and teaching professionalization, hold thus suffering and overcoming memories, found in the militancy in social organizations and movements forms of combat invisibility of rural schools, as well as to understand their paths of life and training. The fourth, and final, part presents final considerations, research limitations and, finally, proposals for rural schools and teacher training. The thesis notes, therefore, that there are no publics polices consolidated in the three countries on rural education as well as on training teachers for rural areas.