Providing relevant and quality schooling for all South African learners is the paramount goal of the South African National Department of Education. South Africa 's historical and current socio-economic contexts provide many challenges for both the Department of Education and schools in this endeavour to provide quality teaching and learning. These challenges impact directly and indirectly on what happens in the classroom. Since 1994 a plethora of education and training policy has been introduced in South Africa to redress historical imbalances; to introduce a new education and training framework and approach; and to provide guidelines, principles and procedures for addressing some of the challenges that impact on schools. The National Whole School Evaluation Policy provides the legislative framework for the establishment of a quality assurance process in South African schools based on accountability and support. The subsequent Integrated Quality Management System attempts to provide a framework for integrating school evaluation and performance measurement. Policy frameworks are in place to guide quality assurance and school improvement, however, the reality of implementing this at a grass roots level is particularly challenging. The General Motors (GM) South Africa Foundation, a non-governmental development organisation, established by General Motors (GM) South Africa, commenced with the piloting the Learning Schools Initiative to investigate some of the challenges of whole school development and evaluation. This research documents the Learning Schools Initiative's intervention with the initial two pilot secondary schools situated in Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela Bay) over a four-year period. It reviews the relevant school reform and school development literature and adopts a critical realist evaluative research approach to investigate the key mechanisms that promote whole school development and change in this context. In keeping with this approach, the results of the research are analysed and discussed within a context-menchanism-outcome configuration that involves the identification of the key mechanisms that bring about desired outcome/s in a specific context. Seven key generative mechanisms are identified as critical at a school and classroom level (i) school culture, (ii) school structures, (iii) effective leadership and management, (iv) personal growth and meaning, (v) restoration of relationships, (vi) professional development of educators, and development of capacity to work together, and (vii) support and accountability. The need to structure school development interventions around the triggering of identified key mechanisms is also identified as an important overarching mechanism. Suggestions are made for further research required to facilitate a deeper understanding of how to bring about meaningful change that results in quality teaching and learning in South African schools.

This research has as its objective to discover the extent to which Grade 12 learners receive the appropriate support required in conducting their studies efficiently and effectively. The main aim of the study is to help to improve the quality of the results and the pass rate of Grade 12 learners in the Mankweng Area, Limpopo Province. The aim of the investigation is to gather information about the learner support structures in use in sampled schools. There is a need for a Learner Support System to assist learners to perform well at schools. A literature study is conducted to explore and to identify gaps in the literature. The study will assist the researcher to emerge with ways and means of improving the quality of effective use of Learner Support Systems in schools. It is anticipated that the findings and recommendations of the study will enhance the plans of the Limpopo Department of Education strategies of improving the quality of teaching and learning support in the province. / Educational Studies / M. Ed (Education Management)

D.Phil. / The problem of the research is to investigate why South Africa failed to make township schools effective despite new legislation, developmental programmes and projects, and change of personnel. Can this failure be attributed to the lack of knowledge on the ground on what constitutes an effective school in the township? A number of the characteristics of an effective school were identified through the literature review. During the review of these characteristics, a conclusion was drawn that they were developed from a context that is different from a South African township. To enable the researcher to collect "home-grown" data, the relevant stakeholders had to speak about what they consider to be the characteristics of an effective school. A qualitative method was used in collecting and analysing the data. The study was conducted in two phases: The first phase, had two components. Informants were asked to write their naive statements on what they consider to be the characteristic of effective township school and this was followed by a lengthy focus group interview with each subgroup that participated in the study. The second phase was a questionnaire developed from the analysis of the naive statements and focus group interviews that was administered to a larger audience of the informants to allow them an opportunity to confirm or refute the findings. Finally, the following list represent what the informants considered to be the characteristics of an effective township school. The reader must be reminded that these characteristics are not presented in the order of their importance, but they are all equally important: O Strong leadership Dedicated, committed and disciplined educators Dedicated and committed learners Parental support and involvement A well-developed vision and mission O Strong partnership with relevant stakeholders O A supportive environment Towards the end of the study, specific recommendations were directed to parents, learners, principals, members of teacher organizations, the departments of education and non-governmental organizations on what they could do to contribute towards school effectiveness in the township.

M.Ed. / The aim of this research study is to analyze the Youth Empowerment Scheme critically, within the requirements of reformative justice. The study is motivated by the fact that crime in South Africa is on the increase. Most offenders are between the ages of 16- and 20 years. An effective rehabilitation program for first time youth offenders as part of diversion is critical to prevent further crime by these offenders. The Youth Empowerment Scheme is a program currently run by the National Institute for Crime Intervention and the Reintegration of Offenders in an attempt to prevent a criminal record and further crime. The researcher compared the current retributive justice system with the proposed reformative justice system to identify the implications of these justice systems for the youth offender. The principles of the reformative justice system and the Youth Empowerment Scheme were analyzed to formulate criteria to improve the reformative potential of the program. In the achievement of the above-mentioned study goal, the researcher applied the techniques of qualitative research and specifically used the Youth Empowerment Scheme as a case study according to this paradigm. The data was gathered through a variety of techniques (questionares, literature review, observation, field notes and an interview) which enhanced the viability and reliability of the study through triangulation. The researcher attended the Youth Empowerment Scheme, which gave her the opportunity to explore and describe the program within its natural context. Further data was gained through questionares completed by the youth offenders and an interview with their parents/guardians. From the data certain themes were identified that highlighted aspects of the Youth Empowerment Scheme that should be changed to ensure a more effective rehabilitation program. These themes led to the formulation of guidelines to improve the Youth Empowerment Scheme. The formulated guidelines focus on the following aspects: The facilitators of the program. The social context and potential of the youth offenders. The content of the program. The group size of the program. The duration of the program. Participation of the parents/guardians. Principles of reformative justice. Protection of the youth offender, by law. The limitations of the study and the role of the Educational Psychologist were discussed. The researcher also proposes that this study presents a lot of other research opportunities.

D.Ed. / The focus of this research is on the proposals to improve the implementation of developmental appraisal in schools in the Northern Province (Limpopo). The research is aimed at probing the essence of developmental appraisal in schools, establishing the opinions and problems related to developmental appraisal in schools, establishing effective ways in which the school development team (SDT) can function for the support and development of educators and to make recommendations on the basis of the findings about the role developmental appraisal can play in restoring the culture of teaching and learning if well implemented. The central problem here is: How can developmental appraisal be implemented to satisfy both the appraisers and the appraises' expectations and lead to school improvement? The research starts with the background and orientation of the study giving the rationale of conducting this research. A focused literature study is then conducted, probing the essence of developmental appraisal in schools. The research strategy and the research methods follow a focused literature study. This was done against the background of a qualitative research using qualitative focus group interviews. Seven focus group interviews were held and tape-recorded with educators in the Northern Province (Limpopo). Transcriptions of tape-recorded interviews are included in this research as Appendices. The data of the report are then presented for further analysis. In analysing data, Miles and Huberman's approach was used, that is, data reduction, data display and conclusion drawings and verification. The research report is concluded with the findings and interpretation of data. Recommendations and topics for further research on the implementation of developmental appraisal in schools in the Northern Province (Limpopo) are finally given.

In this Treatise, a study is undertaken to analyse and examine the role of school principals in the success of their schools; with specific reference to township high schools in the Port Elizabeth district (P.E. district). The study assumes that P.E. district principals, as leaders and managers should deliver essential services effectively, efficiently, and with optimal use of resources to attain maximum results in school performance. The same is expected of their counterparts in any part of the country, it is not exclusively demanded from PE district principals. In terms of the current education legislation and policy framework, the principals have to account for the performance of their schools. To this end the National Department of Education introduced legislation in 2007 to ensure that principals account to the Head of The Department of Education of the relevant province. Section 16 A of the South African Schools Act (SASA) was introduced by the Education Law Amendment Act 31/2007. The provisions of this section deal with “the functions and responsibilities of principals of public schools.” Specifically section 16A (1) (b) states that “The principal must prepare and submit to the Head of the Department an annual report in respect of: (i.) The academic performance of that school (ii.) The effective use of available resources.” Since the enactment of section 16 A as referred to above, the Provincial Departments have begun to make principals account for the success or failure of learners, for human resource development, financial management, parent involvement in school matters and the active participation of school governing bodies. What should be clear is that the above encompasses all the critical and fundamental aspects that have an impact on the progress of any educational institution. The combination of the two requirements stated above reflects the extent to which the Department of Education is committed to making certain that principals in their respective schools create an environment where learners can achieve their full potential. It is such creation of conducive environments that will enable all learners in the country to achieve equal opportunities in society irrespective of their original backgrounds. This ideal is consistent with section 9 of the Constitution, 1996 which provides for the right to equality of all people. The research, also assumes that leadership is about direction and purpose, while management lays emphasis on effectiveness and efficiency. Leadership and management are fundamental aspects of those duties and responsibilities associated with the position of a school principal. It is further postulated that, a good principal understands that circumstances determine the proportion of each of these elements that is required by any given situation i.e. whether more of leadership or bigger dose management is appropriate in dealing with a certain set of circumstances or not. The study identifies variables that make a school principal a strong leader and good manager and lists the following as the critical focus areas:  Balancing instructional and managerial leadership  Strengthening the connection between school and home  Developing effective leadership  Effective teaching practices  Staff development The study also assumes that township schools are no exception to those in different parts of the country. Despite some serious daily challenges peculiar to the township situations, these schools still have to perform satisfactorily like all other institutions of learning. The legislative and policy framework applies equally to all schools. The study argues primarily that all schools can perform well and develop the potential of their learners to the fullest. The difference lies in the leadership and management of the respective institutions by their principals. All stakeholders are presumed to posses the potential, the ability and the urge to do their utmost best to render quality services that would lead to the attainment of excellent results. It is worthwhile for the system that those who show themselves to lack these attributes should be identified, not to weed them out but to assist so that they acquire the necessary skills and expertise. After all it is by strengthening the weakest link that a chain becomes strong.

The lack of the visible and practical involvement of parents in schools that are in previously disadvantaged communities is not only depriving the present learners and their parents of their democratic right to participate in shaping their future, but that of the coming generation and leaders of tomorrow as well. South Africa as a country is about twenty years into democracy and already the education system has been chopped and changed about four times but with no success. The schooling system in previously black communities is deteriorating. The government of the day has been prioritising education for about fifteen years now, the budget for education is equal to the budget for the whole country in some of the neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe but the quality and standard are far worse than in those countries. The cost of the current problems in education mostly in previously black township schools is far too much to imagine. The main challenge seems to be the nature, character, skills and capabilities of parents serving in school governing bodies. This study is so important because of the situation that exists in schools that are situated in historically disadvantaged communities where the parents who get elected to school governing bodies are still, despite workshops and training offered by the Department of Education, unable to manage and govern schools and thus render the school governing body ineffective. The Department of Education through its programmes does conduct governance, financial management and policy formulation workshops. These efforts from the government side do not seem to bear any fruit because parents, after attending the training and workshops are still unable to create well-managed and properly governed schools. The primary objective of this study is to improve the organisational performance of schools in previously disadvantaged communities in the Uitenhage District of the Department of Education situated in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality by investigating how effective school governing body governance could contribute to such performance. More specifically, the study investigates the relationship between effective school governing body management, as a dependent variable, and parental/community involvement, finance and resource management, school governance, learner discipline/conduct, and quality education as independent variables. The population of the study was high school principals and school management team (SMT) members in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality focusing mainly on historically or previously disadvantaged schools in the Uitenhage district of the Department of Education. The study used convenience sampling where seventeen (17) high schools were selected. In each school, school management team members and a principal were requested to fill in a questionnaire. In total 105 questionnaires were distributed and 85 were fully completed and returned. Questionnaires were collected, data captured and analysed and a report was written. The empirical results revealed the following weaknesses in the SGBs of high schools in the Uitenhage District of the Department of Education in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality: the SGBs do not effectively formulate school policies; the SGBs do not effectively provide support to educators in performing their professional duties; the SGBs are not fully involved in supplementing resources supplied by the state in order to improve quality of teaching and learning; and the schools are weak on community engagement. On the other hand, the following positive elements of SGBs were highlighted in the empirical results; the schools are rated good regarding the following variables/issues: quality of teaching and learning, utilisation of school resources, school governance, professionalism of staff and extra-mural activities; the SGBs know and participate in the academic and extra-mural programmes of the schools; the SGBs successfully prepare the annual budget for the schools; the SGBs are effectively governing the schools; the SGBs do appoint auditors to audit the school's books and financial statements; the schools have achieved audited financial statements without a disclaimer; the schools have a disciplinary committee that deals with the learner code of conduct and attends to disciplinary problems. The study highlights areas in school governance that should be improved, as well as recommendations on how to improve them. Recommendations for future research are also provided.

The past two to three decades have seen unprecedented expansion in enrolments in Universities across the world. Increased participation rates in Higher Education, however, has not been matched by a corresponding increase in success rates as reflected in students' poor retention rates and unsatisfactory outcomes. One strand of explanation claims that students, for a variety of reasons, come to university `unprepared' and suffer an articulation gap in the transition between high school and university; the other explanation seeks to move away from the deficit perspective and puts emphasis on the need to enrich experiences of students to enable them to exercise agency and change constraining circumstances in order to succeed. This study reports on one programme, a grounding programme known as the Life, Knowledge and Action (LKA) in one South African university. One of the central purposes of the LKA is to enrich students' first year experiences through liberating dialogue embedded in its pedagogical architecture. A sequential mixed methods study was carried out. A survey of first year students who had been exposed to the LKA was first carried out. This was followed by a case study of purposively selected first year students. Findings show that LKA promoted dialogue in varied ways depending on the level of the pedagogical architecture. At Umzi level students as peers across disciplines exchanged ideas freely about their circumstances and social issues. At the Ekhaya level where the abakwezeli (facilitators) were active, power dynamics emerged between students and the facilitators which had the effect of diminishing dialogical moments. At village level, there was not much discussion; instead there was a lot of lecturing. Dialogue was limited to a few minutes of discussion at the end of the lecture. The other finding was that seen from Archer's lens of morphogenetic analysis, the `articulation gap' can be seen as a structural constraint, that can be addressed through liberating dialogue which enables the students to question the status quo. There was evidence that through dialogue in the LKA, students felt that it liberated them in the sense that it exposed them to different perspectives as well as enabled them to explore alternatives. It can be concluded that through an appropriately designed dialogical pedagogy, students can be empowered to transform the structural constraints to their education and create enablers that can help them succeed in their learning. There is evidence that within the LKA pedagogical architecture, the students have the opportunity to take responsibility for their learning and thus enabled to exercise agency. It is recommended that the processes that take place at each level of the LKA architecture must be further studied with a view to discovering mechanisms at work that may undermine the liberating thrust of the programme. As a liberating core curriculum, LKA must not be limited to first year students; consideration must be given to roll it out across the levels of the undergraduate offerings.

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Marketing in historically black public secondary schools in Phuthaditjhaba was never used as a management strategy by school principals. However principals ofindependent schools in the same region are using marketing to promote the image of their institutions in order to increase the enrolment of learners. These principals hold discussions with business men who evaluate their school programmes with the purpose of Keeping pace with the external environment. The failure to market the public secondary schools has a negative impact on the image ofthese schools and on the attitude that the community adopts towards them. This attitude compels parents to remove their children from such schools and to relocate them to others where marketing of the institution is a daily process and where a sound relationship with both the private sector and the external community of the institution has been established...

Submitted to the FACULTY OF EDUCATION in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONAL STUDIES at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 2004. / The present study examines principals, educators and parents' partnership in creating a culture of teaching and learning in schools. The fIrst aim was to ascertain the extent to which parents, educators and principals play a partnership role in creating a culture of teaching and learning. The second aim was to ascertain the extent to which parents, educators and principals perceive problems that contribute to the decline of a culture of teaching and learning. The third aim was to determine whether parents' educators' and principals' biographical factors such as gender, age, academic qualifIcation nature of stakeholder as well as the highest grade of the school have any influence on their partnership role which they play in creating a culture of teaching and learning. The last aim was to determine whether parents, educators and principals' biographical factors such as gender, age, academic qualifIcation, nature ofstakeholder as well as the highest grade ofthe school have any influence on their perception of problems that contribute to the decline of a culture of teaching and .learning. To this end, a questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample of two hundred and four parents, educators and principals, inclusively. The findings reveal that parents, educators and principals, as a group, differ in the ext,,:nt to which they play a partnership role in creating the culture of teaching and learning. A very high percentage (97.5%) ofparents, educators and principals, as a group, report an above average level of partnership role. The findings also show that parents, educators and principals differ in the extent to which they perceive problems that contribute to the decline of a culture ofteaching and learning. A very high percentage (90.2%) of parents, educators and principals, as a group, report an above average level of perception of problems that contribute to the decline of culture of teaching and learning. The findings further indicate that, with the exception of the nature ofstakeholder, parents', educators' and principals' personal variables such as gender, age, academic qualification as well as schools' highest grade have no influence on their partnership role which they play in creating a culture of teaching and learning. The last findings show that parents', educators' and principals' biographical characteristics have no influence on their perception of problems that contribute to the decline of culture of teaching and learning. On the basis of the findings of this study, recommendations to the Department of Education and Culture as well as for directing future research were made.