M.Ed. / The aim of this dissertation is focused on how the knowledge of accounting concepts effects the financial management of schools. The aim of this research is divergent and contains the following aspects according to Mouton and Marais (1989: 43): • to gain new insight over an unknown domain; • to explore central concepts; • to set priorities for further research. Overall, the aim of this dissertation is: • identify those accounting concepts applicable to financial school management; • discuss these accounting concepts; • discuss the application and use of these accounting concepts; • discuss the implication of application of these accounting concepts on financial school management. Guidelines will be set how accounting concepts can be used in financial school management.

M.Ed. (Education Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The Gauteng Department of Education has issued new admission circulars for the past five years. The necessity for such policy regulation may well point to a problem which remains unsolved. What the circulars regulating the environment do not explicitly deal with is the fact that admissions impact heavily on the planning processes of the school. The process of admissions links to the subsidy received by the school as well as to the post and staff establishments of the school. While the Gauteng Department of Education has put into place a number of mechanism for dealing with admissions, it is at the level of the School Management Team that Admissions are actually dealt with. The research will highlight some of the challenges faced by the School Management Team when implementing the Admission policies of the department. / Dr. P. du Plessis Mr. T.S. Hlongwane

M.Ed. / Over the years, and even now, the Department of Education is busy trying to find a better method of managing and empowering educators with the aim of attaining whole school development. The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) as early as 1992 proposed an educator developmental appraisal system. Workshops are currently conducted to facilitate the implementation of DAS (developmental appraisal system) at schools. This study concentrates on peer appraisal of educators as an aspect of educator management and its contribution to whole school development. The literature indicated that educators are dissatisfied with the traditional appraisal instruments and the old inspection system. Hence it was abolished on the basis that it was not transparent, not developmental and not democratic (SADTU, 1999(a):61). Information obtained from different books clearly states that peer appraisal is a process that directly involves all the educators in a school. It stresses the mutual understanding, transparency and capacity building among the educators. This research used a structured questionnaire to collect data on the opmwns of the respondents in seven of the nine provinces in South Africa. The questionnaire contained 79 items and seven of these items were relevant to peer appraisal. The structured questionnaires were distributed to a convenient stratified sample of educators in seven of the nine provinces. Based on the information from the questionnaire, each item relevant to this particular research was analysed and discussed. After the factor analysis, the significance of the difference between the factor mean scores of various groups for each of the factors that make up whole school development were analysed and explained. The data obtained indicates that peer appraisal of educators has a positive impact on the professional development of educators. An atmosphere of collegial relationships among staff is a pre-requisite for whole school development. It appears as if the learning and teaching process can be improved through the implementation of peer appraisal m schools.

D.Ed.

M.Ed. / The introduction of School Based Management (SBM) in South African Schools ushered in School Management Teams (SMTs) whose responsibilities include, among others; planning, organizing, leading and control. These fundamental day-to-day duties also relate to school branding which is a new concept in South African Schools. School branding is a new concept that warrants empirical research so that school management teams can thoroughly understand and implement it professionally. Branding a school cannot be left to the ad hoc devices of the layman. School Management Teams need to be factually conversant and knowledgeable about cultivating a knowledge substrate of school branding for application by school management teams. Understanding and implementing the concept school branding stands to benefit schools in this era where learner mobility is determined by school choice. School choice in turn is a crucial aspect of the supply and demand of learners. These two market forces have a direct impact on the survival and existence of a school. Schools in this day and age are compelled to market and transform themselves into winning, compelling and powerful brands. In the past schools enjoyed the geographic and racial monopoly over parents and learner choice of a school. With the advent of the democratic dispensation the survival of a school needs a scientific and commercial praxis of concepts like branding. Branding itself holds a host of benefits for all the stakeholders in a school.

M.Ed. / Organisation development as a tool for sustainable school improvement is at the core of this study and a qualitative case study research method was deployed. Organisation development in itself is a process, which applies behavioural science knowledge and systems theory to plan and implement change in schools. The goal is more effective schools and an educational environment supportive of human needs and developments and where the participation of all stakeholders forms a crucial determinant in the change process. The researcher's field experience as an organisation development consultant combined with an international literature survey brought to light evidence to the effect that there is a definite need for a more school-based model of organisation development. The importance of a comprehensive capacity building exercise for principals and school management teams on the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for organisation development are identified as an absolute necessity in this research. The aim of the research is therefore to describe the nature of organisation development within a school context, determine the perceptions of educators concerning organisation development, investigate aspects that could be enhanced and develop guidelines that could be used by educational managers to improve their schools and to facilitate the management of change. A detailed literature study embedded within a theoretical framework of organisation development emphasises the importance of the individual nature of schools with reference to school improvement interventions.

School managers currently face major challenges of finding innovative ways to improve the quality of teaching and learning and ultimately student outcomes. This might be because contemporary leadership models promote either requisite curricular expertise or requisite leadership qualities or requisite norms and values which impact notably on teaching and learning. This study examined to which extent School Management Teams (SMT’s) contribute to the quality of teaching and learning when utilizing an integrated leadership approach in primary schools.The extent to which integrated leadership contributes to the quality of teaching and learning is investigated through an exploratory mixed method approach. Case studies in six different schools were conducted through both qualitative and quantitative research methods to obtain data regarding the thirty-six participants’ integrated leadership qualities. Data was gathered through focused group interviews, observations and a questionnaire. The Annual National Assessment results for two consecutive years (2010 and 2011) of grade three and six learners for literacy and numeracy were collected to determine the relationship between integrated leadership and quality teaching and learning and the extent to which integrated leadership impacted on student outcomes.The findings revealed that SMT’s confused integrated leadership with the utilization of qualities from a range of leadership styles each seeking to fit the purpose of an activity, and then claim they are employing an integrated leadership approach. Integrated leadership on the contrary is one leadership model with different qualities and when utilised as a complete package, in a unified manner, has the potential to have a significant impact on the quality of teaching and learning and ultimately student achievement. The findings also indicated that the majority of SMT members are either not utilising integrated leadership or occasionally utilise some of the integrated leadership qualities. This might be one of the main reasons for unsatisfactory academic performance in schools. Integrated leadership thus, when implemented in its totality at all times, possesses all the qualities to have a significant impact on the quality of teaching and learning nationally and internationally.

M.Ed. (Education Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M. Ed. (Educational Management) / Accountability and transparency in financial management is the cornerstone to all democratic government policies. All spheres of government should encourage participative collaboration and involvement of all stakeholders. Schools as organs of state are not immune to this call. The aim of this research was to investigate the level of accountability and transparency in school financial management with the ultimate aim of encouraging efficacy in financial school management. Accountability and transparency must be approached with resiliency. The findings are clear indications of what might be happening in schools. It is our responsibilities as educationist to reverse and normalise the scenario. It was a carefully planned policy of the previous government to alienate and discourage African parents from playing a significant role in education. As a result the role of stakeholders in education diminished. Educational managers must acknowledge the fact that it will be an awesome struggle to encourage all stakeholders to playa meaningful role in the education ofourchildren. This task requires managers who must be change agents themselves. For managers to achieve this task they must first have a change of heart, change of mindset and strong will power. These leaders must have courage and determination. This task requires managers who are not afraid offailure. There is evidence of internal wrangling in schools. This wrangling sometimes prevents schools from its core function, which is effective teaching and learning...