Faculty of Humanities School of Education 0415279k jthakrar@ofh.ac.za / Recognition of prior learning (RPL), the practice of valuing adults’ learning, derived from formal, informal or non-formal contexts, forms a key component of the transformational agenda of the education landscape in South Africa. Yet few institutions of higher education in South Africa practice RPL. The aim of this study is to provide insight into RPL by evaluating its current practice at one institution of higher education, the University of Fort Hare, highlighting its successes and challenges. The sources of information for this study included past RPL candidates, RPL assessors and co-ordinators, and the policy, processes and procedures that govern the RPL process in the institution. The methods used to collect the data included interviews, observation of institutional RPL workshops and an analysis of relevant RPL documentation. The research results suggest that there has been a limited uptake of RPL, which has impeded a holistic approach to RPL. Challenges include the draft status of an institutional policy, inconsistent RPL practices, the limitations of some of the RPL assessment methods, the lack of RPL data systems, the costs associated with supporting RPL candidates, the duplication of resources and practices, and the impact on academic workloads. A series of recommendations have been made to address these and other challenges highlighted in the research results.

Personal training is an occupation which requires service and knowledge work. There have been some studies of personal training that have focused on the service dimension of the work of personal trainers but few on the knowledge work entailed in workplace competence. This study focused on “knowledgeable labour” in the field of personal training. A small sample of apprenticed, trained and educated personal trainers was observed at work with their clients in order to investigate whether different learning pathways lead to differences in the forms of knowledge and ways of knowing they use in their workplace practices. A first level of analysis focused on whether there were noticeable differences in the “practical competence” of the trainers -as manifest in their observable practices with their clients. A second level of analysis, explored whether there were more subtle differences in their practices by focusing on the form and content of their exchanges with their clients, and of their reflections in and on their practice. This level of analysis focused on what the South African National Qualifications framework has referred to as “applied competence’ which is grounded in foundational and reflexive competence and is not reducible to what is manifestly or visible in practical activities. It sought to establish whether there were differences in the applied competence of trainers who have qualified through the different learning pathways. The study found that access to a formal knowledge base, and a related ability to reflect explicitly made a difference to the quality of the knowledge that trainers imparted to their clients, to their decision making in practice, and to the quality of explanations and justifications they offered to their clients. These differences point to the need for vocational qualifications that develop reflective practitioners who are able to build bridges work between the science and the client in their situated practices in their workplaces and therefore think on their feet.

Magister Artium (Human Ecology) - MA(HE) / A theory-based evaluation has been conducted with an improvement-orientated purpose on the Social Auxiliary Worker (SAW) Training Programme for an accredited provider to improve and continue to implement their own SAW Training Programmes. Theory-driven evaluations are essential for distinguishing between the validity of programme implementation and the validity of programme theory. Addressing the social needs of communities through social development and transformation is a top priority for the South African Government. South Africa faces a shortage of Social Work Practitioners (SWPs) due to emigration, as well as insufficient numbers of university graduates. This shortage has left the current SWPs with severe workload pressures. The South African Department of Social Development (DSD) initiated, in 2004, the training of Social Auxiliary Workers (SAWs) to serve as assistants to the SWPs. The SAW qualification initiative has been developed as a course accredited with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) at the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 4. Providers of SAW training courses are accredited by the Health and Welfare Sectoral Education and Training Authority (HWSETA) and by the South African Council for Social Services Professions (SACSSP). The empirical part of the study was conducted in two stages. The first stage consisted of a clarificatory evaluation, wherein a step-by-step logical participatory process was followed for the clarification and development of the programme theory. This process resulted in logic models and a theory-of-change model against which the evaluation questions for the study were developed. These questions assessed the need for the SAW training programme - and for the SAW training programme planning and design. It was found that there was a need for SAW training programmes and that the SAW training programme had been designed to address this need. The second stage consisted of an implementation evaluation. This was done by means of a data matrix using the evaluation aspects for each of the objectives developed during the clarificatory evaluation. Data gathering was done by means of content analysis, focus group workshops and questionnaires. Data interpretations, conclusions and judgements were made with regard to each of the objectives and consolidated in a table format which indicated the outputs and outcomes, implementation results- and a judgement and recommendation for each objective. It was found that a standardised and structured process was followed most of the time, but that the knowledge and skills training elements, particularly in their practical application, left room for improvement. The study illustrates the advantages of a theory-based evaluation that assists with programme planning and modification, knowledge development and the planning of evaluation studies.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study begins with an ethnographic self-study which allows for a reflection on traditional learning experiences. This study is located in the context of the initial development of dental health professionals within those higher education institutions that endeavour to provide education and training in a rapidly changing context. This context is characterised by the simultaneous need to address the blurring of boundaries and the dichotomies that exist such as the first world and the third world, the developed and the less developed world, the rich and the poor, health and wealth, the private and the public sectors, the formal and the informal sectors, the advantaged and the disadvantaged, the privileged and the underprivileged. The definitions, concepts, theories and principles around curricula and professional development are examined in an effort to extend into discoveries of educational research usually beyond the purview of dental health practitioners, policy makers or higher education specialists involved in training these dental health practitioners. It poses key questions regarding the nature of professional competences within dental health science undergraduate studies and how the curricula are organised around these perceptions of competence. Investigative tools include participant observation, interviews and questionnaires which have included both education deliverers - the teaching staff - and education consumers - the students. The areas of access by students to programmes (input), activities whilst in the programmes (throughput) and their competences at the exit end of the programme (output) are examined. It was found that institutions and programmes are paradoxically positioned declaring missions to be globally competitive and internationally recognised and at the same time wanting to reach out to the population who are disadvantaged and who form a majority. Whilst the needs of the wider community is for basic dental services and primary health care, the resources appear to be geared for producing technologically-superior professionals who will cater for a largely urban and middle class populations. The resources available, particularly human resources, for this training, are going through a critical shortage. Simultaneously demands are being made to challenge the epistemological rationale of the curriculum practice of the training sites at both universities and technikons (now known as universities of technology). These findings reveal that the SAQA demands and the proposed transformation of higher education provided an impetus for schools and departments within universities and technikons and their institutes to look at educational concepts and to transform curricula. This shift was found to be hampered by a variety of causes which included territorial protection, lack of a deep understanding of the education and training concepts and lack of human, physical and financial resources. It was also found that traditional designs of programmes are locked into tribal boundaries which restrict movement beyond these. The boundaries are ring-fenced by historical legacies and practices which confine programmes within these borders and continue to cement the fragmented development of dental health science professionals. The education and training of the different dental health science occupational categories are fragmented between institutes, within institutes and with three separate professional regulating bodies and, seemingly, disjointed functioning national and provincial departments of health and education. This (education and training) is found to be dominated by the traditional mould of teaching, learning and assessment with pockets of change in some schools and departments. Teaching units in the form of subjects, which operate as discrete units and remain entrenched by the habituations of subjects and departments within schools, restricts movement in the competence-based direction. The framework offered by this thesis sets broader and more fluid principles and guidelines which embody the notion of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values and which course designers and educators can utilise so that renewed ways can emerge for their programmes. This allows for a cross over into each other's territories (regulatory, institutional and the health and educational services) that will allow for courses to be designed more holistically and rationally with appropriate transformatory potential.

Owing to past injustices, the South African higher education sector is characterised by inequalities of resource allocation and of learning opportunities. Through the National Qualification Framework (NQF), recognition of prior learning (RPL) was established to address the previous inequalities in higher education and training. RPL can be used as a mechanism to offer non-traditional learners such as workers, adult learners, and community workers access to learning programmes in Library and Information Science (LIS) schools. It can also be used for up-skilling within LIS sector, to enable staff to migrate from paraprofessional to professional roles. LIS schools could possibly use this approach to offer experienced but unqualified library workers opportunities for progressive professional development and career growth. Despite it being a national policy and its obvious benefits, very little is known about RPL implementation in LIS schools in South Africa. This study was conducted to investigate the nature of RPL implementation in LIS schools in South Africa and make recommendations for effective and efficient RPL practice in these schools. The study used the questionnaire as the main data collection tool. In addition, document analysis was used to validate the collected data. The results of the study indicated that there were islands of good RPL practice in LIS schools in South Africa specifically with regard to the aspect of RPL assessment process. However, certain weaknesses were identified in other aspects of RPL implementation in LIS schools including the policy environment, training of personnel conducting RPL assessment and the quality management systems. Among other things, the study recommends that RPL quality management system (QMS) should ideally be driven by the head/chair of the school/department. Furthermore, an integrated student management system should be used to monitor the progression of RPL candidates through the formal academic system post RPL. / Information Science / D. Litt et. Phil. (Information Science)

Owing to past injustices, the South African higher education sector is characterised by inequalities of resource allocation and of learning opportunities. Through the National Qualification Framework (NQF), recognition of prior learning (RPL) was established to address the previous inequalities in higher education and training. RPL can be used as a mechanism to offer non-traditional learners such as workers, adult learners, and community workers access to learning programmes in Library and Information Science (LIS) schools. It can also be used for up-skilling within LIS sector, to enable staff to migrate from paraprofessional to professional roles. LIS schools could possibly use this approach to offer experienced but unqualified library workers opportunities for progressive professional development and career growth. Despite it being a national policy and its obvious benefits, very little is known about RPL implementation in LIS schools in South Africa. This study was conducted to investigate the nature of RPL implementation in LIS schools in South Africa and make recommendations for effective and efficient RPL practice in these schools. The study used the questionnaire as the main data collection tool. In addition, document analysis was used to validate the collected data. The results of the study indicated that there were islands of good RPL practice in LIS schools in South Africa specifically with regard to the aspect of RPL assessment process. However, certain weaknesses were identified in other aspects of RPL implementation in LIS schools including the policy environment, training of personnel conducting RPL assessment and the quality management systems. Among other things, the study recommends that RPL quality management system (QMS) should ideally be driven by the head/chair of the school/department. Furthermore, an integrated student management system should be used to monitor the progression of RPL candidates through the formal academic system post RPL. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) heralds the beginning of a new curriculum for Grades 10 to 12 in South Africa. Underpinned by the South African Constitution, and based on the tenets of Outcomes-based Education, the NCS seeks to provide contextually-relevant education for all South African learners, so that they are able to embrace inevitable change. Although the NCS highlights the importance of assessment, an analysis of the English Home Language (EHL) NCS reveals tensions between policy and practice. This study attempts to contextualise the role of relevant assessment for the 21st century. It then proceeds to engage in a historical evaluation of assessment within the NSC in terms of how assessment was conducted in the former Natal Education Department, a liberal education department within former apartheid South Africa. The conclusions drawn from the evaluation are used to provide recommendations to relieve the tensions identified within the EHL NSC. / Educational Studies / M.Ed.

The role of the principal can no longer be viewed as merely being a manager and administrator but rather as learning-expert and lifelong learner. Principals are expected to establish appropriate preconditions for effective teaching, learning and assessment, and flow through with interactions aimed at improving teaching and leaning. The problem statement for this study was based on the researcher’s opinion that the lack of knowledge of effective assessment practices by principals as instructional leaders seemed to have a negative influence on teacher’s perceptions of the implementation of quality assessment practices in their respective classrooms. The reason for this challenge is because principals are not involved in the classroom assessment practices, to revise, support and manage the quality of assessment by indentifying teacher’s assessment to them. The purpose of this study was to design a proposed instructional leadership model/ framework to ensure effective and quality assessment practices at school level. This ILQA framework/model was designed from the literature review, findings and personal experience as a principal. The aim of this ILQA framework/model was to support principals understand their roles in the teaching and learning environment in ensuring quality assessment practices at school level. This study investigates how principals execute their roles as instructional leaders in ensuring effective and the implementation of quality assessment practices using structured questionnaire from a sample of 250 respondents and semi structured interviews with five primary school principals in the Free State Department of Basic Education. It was found that to ensure quality assessment practices, principals should understand their role in assessment for learning, assessment of learning and assessment as learning and integrate them into classroom instruction as an important component of quality teaching and learning. In summary the researcher further hopes that when the findings and the recommendations of this study are implemented, it will add value to the school principals’ instructional leadership roles in ensuring quality assessment practices at school level. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) heralds the beginning of a new curriculum for Grades 10 to 12 in South Africa. Underpinned by the South African Constitution, and based on the tenets of Outcomes-based Education, the NCS seeks to provide contextually-relevant education for all South African learners, so that they are able to embrace inevitable change. Although the NCS highlights the importance of assessment, an analysis of the English Home Language (EHL) NCS reveals tensions between policy and practice. This study attempts to contextualise the role of relevant assessment for the 21st century. It then proceeds to engage in a historical evaluation of assessment within the NSC in terms of how assessment was conducted in the former Natal Education Department, a liberal education department within former apartheid South Africa. The conclusions drawn from the evaluation are used to provide recommendations to relieve the tensions identified within the EHL NSC. / Educational Studies / M.Ed.

The role of the principal can no longer be viewed as merely being a manager and administrator but rather as learning-expert and lifelong learner. Principals are expected to establish appropriate preconditions for effective teaching, learning and assessment, and flow through with interactions aimed at improving teaching and leaning. The problem statement for this study was based on the researcher’s opinion that the lack of knowledge of effective assessment practices by principals as instructional leaders seemed to have a negative influence on teacher’s perceptions of the implementation of quality assessment practices in their respective classrooms. The reason for this challenge is because principals are not involved in the classroom assessment practices, to revise, support and manage the quality of assessment by indentifying teacher’s assessment to them. The purpose of this study was to design a proposed instructional leadership model/ framework to ensure effective and quality assessment practices at school level. This ILQA framework/model was designed from the literature review, findings and personal experience as a principal. The aim of this ILQA framework/model was to support principals understand their roles in the teaching and learning environment in ensuring quality assessment practices at school level. This study investigates how principals execute their roles as instructional leaders in ensuring effective and the implementation of quality assessment practices using structured questionnaire from a sample of 250 respondents and semi structured interviews with five primary school principals in the Free State Department of Basic Education. It was found that to ensure quality assessment practices, principals should understand their role in assessment for learning, assessment of learning and assessment as learning and integrate them into classroom instruction as an important component of quality teaching and learning. In summary the researcher further hopes that when the findings and the recommendations of this study are implemented, it will add value to the school principals’ instructional leadership roles in ensuring quality assessment practices at school level. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)