This research presents an understanding of being a teacher and of teacher's work in schools which are defined as 'rural'. In asking the question, "What does it mean to be a teacher in a rural school?" I produced data of their daily practices and social realities that constitute the lived experiences of teachers within the context of rural education. Employing a critical, emancipatory framework, I documented the multiple identities and meanings that emerged, and drew attention to the teachers' need for change. The need to change what rural means, what rural schooling is, becomes the space to challenge and question oppressive practices and for opportunities of freedom. Using a narrative inquiry approach, I produced data of the lives of four teachers who work in two high schools in the Vulindlela District. The data sources used to produce the data included four life history interviews, which were conducted as the main methodological strategy, critical conversations and collages. Through narrative analysis, four reconstructed teachers' stories were produced. The storied narratives are reconstructions of lives told by two groupings of teachers: constructed by teachers that commute to the rural school from one rural area to another, and those that live in the same area as the school. Through the reconstructed teacher stories, the study makes visible how gender identities read against the history and traditional coding of rural settings. It also shows how these identities narrate these individual lives in particular ways, and how the teachers threaten these spaces to rework their meanings and practices for different ways of thinking, living and working as teachers in schools in rural settings. The study contributes towards an understanding of the relationship between 'school life' and 'whole life' . The study concludes that these teachers' personal and professional identities are negotiated on a daily basis, shaping and being shaped by particular social spaces in which they live and work, and make sense of the kind of the teachers they are and want to be. The teaching and learning choices and judgments they made in their classroom are intertwined with other variables other than just teaching. Being a teacher in a school within this particular schooling context, they are challenged with conditions, and have to constantly confront them. Alongside this, teachers enacted certain practices to disrupt, and challenge stereotypical understandings and meanings that we have come to adopt about rural schooling. This study shows that these four teachers in rural schools enacted certain practices 'within the school' and 'beyond the school'. They were able to cultivate commitment, connectedness and care. We see how the notion of "Engaged Pedagogy" (Hooks, 1994) plays itself out in rural schools by teachers who work there. They cultivate this type of pedagogy through constant reflection and by engaging in practices within the formal teaching time, during lunch breaks and beyond the formal teaching time. Through ongoing reflection in how they teach and what they teach they challenge traditional oppressive practices and establish better innovative ways of thinking and working as teachers. By making the change, rurality is transforming and, therefore, rural schooling too is being transformed. The desire expressed by the four teachers to support, care and to express love for learners as a way of improving the life for the learners in the school opened up opportunities for them to excel. By learners feeling good about themselves, they were able to perform better and in this way changed the experience of rural schooling. So to answer my research question, what does it mean to be a teacher in a rural school? It meant to work 'within the school' and 'beyond the school'. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTERS IN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 2006. / This study examines factors contributing to school dropout among learners in a rural farm school. The researcher used the qualitative case study method as a research design. The participants in this study were ten young people between the ages of 16 and 20 who dropped out of school, four mothers of the learner participants, as well as two educators. Data was collected though the use of school records, semi-structured interviews and one focus group interview. Data analysis was done through the process of coding. The findings reveal that several factors contribute simultaneously to school dropout: personal problems, the family, economic causes, school factors, teachers and friends. The emphasis, however, lies with economic factors and school factors that include the actions of teachers. Strategies in identifying and intervening with at-risk learners are recommended. It became apparent with this research that the actions of teachers as well as inadequacies within schools need to be addressed as a priority if the problem of school dropout is to be dealt with effectively.

South African society is currently negotiating a new future. As a result, the sense of identity amongst all groups in South Africa may be undergoing change. This dissertation attempts to identify what type of sense of identity exists in pupils in four different school environments. These schools ranged from a racially integrated to an isolated and racially separate school. A review of the traditional literature on the self (or sense of identity), reveals that it does not allow for the possibility of change in a sense of identity, or the role that language and the social environment plays in the development of a sense of identity. As a result, Harrean and Sampsonian type thinking was used as the theoretical base of the research. Further, discourse analysis was the method of research used. Different schools were found to exhibit different senses of identity, and the implications of this are discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education. / The research, conducted as part of a project aimed at improving teachers' English .skills, set out to answer the question: What are the needs of farm school teachers in relation to the use of English as the medium of instruction? Clarification of this question involved the examination of teachers' English proficiency, the teaching of English as a subject and the.observation of the learning/teaching situation in the farm school classroom. The research raised questions concerning the underlying assumption that an English language intervention could bring about major change in the classroom. As a result, further enquiries into the socio-economic context-of the schools were instituted. In addition, the learning/teaching situation was examined in the light of theories of cognition and change. A range of research methods involving both quantitative and qualitative approaches were utilized to penetrate this highly complex situation. The findings indicated a clear need on the. part of ihe teachers for an English proficiency course. At the same time. the findings also indicated most strongly that a fundamental change is needed in tne teachers' understanding of their role if they are to become agents of significant change. / Andrew Chakane 2019

Thesis (MEd. (Language and Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2014 / Combating Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) among young people has been one of the most difficult challenges in the small communities of rural Mafarana in South Africa, which is only one area surrounded by many other similar areas beset by similar problems. One of the major obstacles that hinder television (TV) health messages from reaching the targeted market is the communication barrier, little or no information, misinformation or misunderstanding are amid many other reasons. The objective of this study was to research the discourse analysis of high school learners’ interpretation of HIV/AIDS TV health messages. The study examined three objectives, aimed at providing a clear indication whether advertisers consider the need for using direct and clearly understood language to meet the required level of education of the targeted audience. Meeting these criteria would result in HIV/AIDS education having an impact on rural people’s knowledge and behaviour.

The purpose of this study is to determine the roles and skills needed by rural schools governors of the Mafikeng area project office of North West Province. Lack of uniformity, competency, skills and commitment are still encountered in the SGB structures. Little has been done to empower the rural school governors with relevant skills for effective job performance. An empirical investigation was employed to find ways of empowering the encountered incompetency of rural governors. Literature survey was employed to determine the nature and scope of roles and skills needed by rural schools governors. The subjects of the study were adults (teachers, parents, principals) and students. The responses of 220 respondents were analysed. The findings revealed that school governors in rural areas experience problems in areas like addressing parent's annual meetings, financial management, control and feedback in their job. Recommendations were made by respondents on how to empower rural school governors with the necessary skills. On the basis of the problems and skills identified, more emphasis was put on commitment of all stakeholders, training of governors to develop their management skills, financial skills, regular workshops by the Department of Education, and the old SGB members to train the new ones. The new SGBs should ask questions when they are not clear and translation of back-up materials into the SGB's home language and a certificate for course completion to be granted to the members who completed their office term. / Thesis (M. Ed.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Due to the great differences of opinion regarding the exact area covered by the Overberg, the following boundaries are stipulated for the purposes of this study: the Hottentots Holland Mountains form the boundary to the west, the Riviersonderend and Langeberg Mountains to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest and the Indian ocean to the southeast. In the east the area stretches up to the Duivenhoks River near Heidelberg. The history of education in South Africa is closely interwoven with the general history of the country. Education in rural areas had to contend with various inhibiting factors during the 18th and 19th centuries. Among these factors were the scarce population, large distances between main centres and a shortage of well-trained teachers. In spite of such limitations, education in farm schools blossomed after the initial period up to approximately 1940, after which time there was a steady decline in the numbers of these schools. The farm schools in the Overberg are not only important regarding the part they play in contributing to the formal education and upbringing of rural children, but also for the important contribution they make to cultural history. The child attending a farm school experiences certain aspects of culture such as folk tales, rhymes, songs, games and the close ties between culture and nature in a unique way, and this has an extremely important influence on the general development and education of these children. In the rural environment the parental horne and the church are two important allies of the farm school. Although there are currently (1999) no formal policies in place for the purposeful phasing out of farm schools, it is, however, a fact that they are forced to close their doors the one after the other. The importance of the cultural contribution these schools make to the upbringing of the child should be taken into consideration by the authorities before the decision is made to close them down. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar heers groot verskil van mening oor waar die grense van die Overberg lê en daarom word die gebied vir die doeleindes van hierdie studie soos volg afgebaken: die Hottentots- Hollandberge as die westelike grens, die Riviersonderend- en Langeberge as die noordelike grens, die Atlantiese oseaan as die suidewestelike en die Indiese oseaan as die suidoostelike grens. Aan die oostekant strek die gebied tot by die Duiwenhoksrivier naby Heidelberg. Die geskiedenis van die onderwys in Suid-Afrika is nou verweef met die algemene geskiedenis van die land. Onderwys op die platteland het in die 18de en 19de eeu met verskeie stremmende faktore te kampe gehad, byvoorbeeld die yl bevolking, groot afstande van die hoofsentra en 'n tekort aan goed opgeleide onderwysers. Ten spyte van dié beperkinge het onderwys in die plaasskole ná die vestigingsperiode 'n bloeitydperk beleef wat vanaf ongeveer 1940 gevolg is deur 'n afuame in die getal plaasskole. Die rol van die plaasskole in die Overberg is nie slegs belangrik as gevolg van hul bydrae tot die formele onderwys en opvoeding van die plattelander nie, maar ook vir die belangrike bydrae wat hulle lewer op die gebied van die kultuurgeskiedenis. Plaasskole is 'n goeie teelaarde vir die volkskultuur en die plaasskoolkind se belewing van sekere aspekte van die kultuur soos byvoorbeeld die volkswoordkuns, speletjies, en die noue band tussen bodem en kultuur, lewer 'n uiters waardevolle bydrae tot hulle algemene opvoeding en vorming. In die plattelandse milieu is die ouerhuis en die kerk besondere bondgenote van die plaasskool. Hoewel daar tans (1999) nie 'n formele beleid bestaan deur middel waarvan plaasskole doelbewus uitgefaseer word nie, gebeur dit wel in realiteit dat die een na die ander skool sy deure moet sluit. Die belang van die kulturele bydrae wat plaasskole maak tot die opvoeding en vorming van die kind, behoort in ag geneem te word voordat skole deur die owerheid gesluit word.

South African society is currently negotiating a new future. As a result, the sense of identity amongst all groups in South Africa may be undergoing change. This dissertation attempts to identify what type of sense of identity exists in pupils in four different school environments. These schools ranged from a racially integrated to an isolated and racially separate school. A review of the traditional literature on the self (or sense of identity), reveals that it does not allow for the possibility of change in a sense of identity, or the role that language and the social environment plays in the development of a sense of identity. As a result, Harrean and Sampsonian type thinking was used as the theoretical base of the research. Further, discourse analysis was the method of research used. Different schools were found to exhibit different senses of identity, and the implications of this are discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Thesis (MTech(Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009 / This dissertation researches the connection between the training of low literate child carers in a ruraI area to stimulate the language development of children from birth to 4 years, and school performance, Here it is argued that the problem of the low literacy performance of ruraI learners manifests within the first year of school and that the potential to solve the problem can be found in the first four years of a child's life. All the intervention strategies of the Department of Education failed to produce the expected results while the Department of Social development focuses on the physical needs of the young child. The literature study underlines the importance of the first four years and how interpersonal relationships influence children's emotional well being, their behaviour and ability to learn. The role of the child carer in the life of the child in relation to their language development is researched, because of the time they spend together during the day. Attention is focussed on the relationship between the educator and the child and the influence of the hidden curriculum on the development of attitudes and values of the child carer during training. Training was used by the researcher as a method to investigate the learning needs and problems of low literate child carers in order to stimulate the language development of children before the age of five. Existing training programmes for child carers were critically investigated to use for the training. The researcher came to the conclusion that this research can be the first phase of a project where different role players can cooperate. Educators and community developers can interact with communities to promote awareness