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 (MPhil (Education))--St Augustine College of South Africa, 2006. / One of the fundamental aspects of my work as Religious Education Coordinator of an Independent Catholic School in South Africa is to ensure that the vision and distinctive character of the school in which I work is aligned to the vision for Catholic Schools as described by Church documents'and other leading authors on the subject. Every member of the teaching staff employed by the Independent Catholic School (The School), has to sign a contract in which is included the sentence: "The Teacher has an obligation to respect, promote and support the Catholic Ethos and the special character of the School". This obligation is based on the assumption that the daily practice of teachers is a critical element contributing to the ethos of The School. The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, in its document The Catholic School (1977), states that: "By their witness and their behaviour teachers are of the first importance to impart a distinctive character to Catholic Schools" (#78). More recently, Me Laughlin states: "Every teacher, it has been argued, can and should make some sort of contribution to this distinctiveness [of the school] and this contribution should feature in their formal appraisal" (Mc Laughlin 1999: 73).

M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / This research focuses on the role the curriculum plays in the existence of certain types of private schools in the RSA. Private schools in South Africa currently number in excess of 500 and the number is increasing every year. The various private schools claim that they offer curricula suited to the specific needs of certain pupils. A structured interview was compiled and used to interview three different schools namely a volkskool (a people's school), a church school and an independent school. The responses received during the interview were then analysed and interpreted to reach certain conclusions and to put forward certain recommendations. It was inter alia concluded that: The volkskool (people's school) attaches importance to religion and ethnicity. The church school stresses the religious principles of a specific church. The independent school considers the economic demands of the world we live in as of importance. For a child to cope in the adult world he must be academically prepared and qualified. It was furthermore established that the processes of curriculum design and development do take place in private schools. This is inter alia evident from the specific subjects that are offered in certain private schools. While a subject like "Volksgeskiedenis" (History of the people) is offered at volkskole, Church History is taught at church schools, and independent schools concentrate on, for instance, Life Skills to prepare their respective pupils towards eventual choices of career. It is then concluded that to effect a stable education environment private schools should be given the greatest amount of freedom to compile their own curricula.

M.Ed. / The world is currently in the grip of educational dilemmas of massive proportions. As a result of these various educational reform initiatives have been launched all seeking to remedy the ills in international public school systems. One of the reforms of this century is the establishment of evangelically Christian private schools. The research eminates from the confusion which is prevalent in South Africa with regards to what "Christian" education really is. White public schools are legislated to provide so-called "Christian" education; whilst evangelically Christian private schools claim they provide truly Christian education. There exists a need to distinguish between these two types of educational provision. This can only be done successfully, if the nature of each is scrutinised: it should provide the clue as to the reason why evangelically Christian private schools have increased with such urgency over the past few years. The primary purpose of this research is to discuss education from both a biblical and state perspective. In doing this the factors 'determining the founding of evangelically Christian private schools will be determined. Three fundamental structural elements of a Christian educational philosophy have been isolated into a model: these are the metaphysical, axiological and epistemological perspectives. The metaphysical foundation demands that education in order to be truly Christian, must be Christ-centred, evangelical and meta-cultural.

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

A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy / The current study adopts a developmental neuropsychological perspective, an approach which does not imply brain dysfunction but rather the principle of understanding the general relationship hetween brain growth and behavioural changes and the effect of environmental factors in children. A neuropsychology of normal development would seem to be an appropriate initial prerequisite if we are to understand the effects of brain insult or disease in the developing child. A modest aim was to acquire a fundamental understanding of emerging skills in black preschool children, starting with the most basic, the development of lateral preferences. This area was selected (a) as a departure point because of its location within the broad area of cerebrallateralization and (b) the opportunity it provided to explore the children's mental processing skills within the same theoretical perspective. The purpose of the present study was the longitudinal investigation of lateral preferences in a sample of Soweto children at three and five years.and information processing skills in the same sample at five years. Three hundred and thirty-five children, 170 girls and 165 boys, were sampled with the assistance of the Birth to Ten project.a longitudinal study of growth, health and development of children living in the Johannesburg Metropolitan area over a ten year period, 1990 to 2000. The children were assessed prior to starting school in January, 1996. A descriptive approach was adopted in explaining the patterns of handedness, footedness and eyeness. The findings showed that the patterns for handedness reflected the expected rightward direction at both ages although the degree to which preference has oeen established was weaker at five years than that reported in other studies with children of similar ages. Thirty-nine percent of the sample were mixed-handed at five years,only 3% were mixed-footed and 5% showed mixed-eyeness, At five years Simultaneous and Sequential information processing skills were assessed with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). Factor analysis revealed a two factor solution broadly supporting the presence of the two processing styles. However the two coding processes were differentially distributed throughout the sample showing significant differences. More specifically.it was found that 34% of the children presented profiles of both processing styles that were below the group mean;31 % showed profiles where one or other coding style was below the group mean;23 % of the children portrayed processing profiles above the group mean. Thirty-nine children (12 %) presented patterns of processing that were above the group mean but were highly developed in one or other processing style. Each of the profiles that emerged were grouped and considered separately. Cognitive tasks involving verbal fluency, naming skills,draw-a person,basic perceptual knowledge,basic literacy.plus lateral preference information such as handedness direction, handedness consistency and handedness skills were appended to all the groups. Low scores in processing styles were found to be associated with poor verbal skills, low mental age,poor perceptual and basic literacy knowledge,poor hand skill performance,and greater (but nonsignificant) numbers of mixed-handers. The lowest scoring group also contained the majority of male left-handers. One of the highest scoring groups showed the strongest lateralizing patterns although the numbers were small (n= 11). Girls with above average sequential skills also scored highly on verbal fluency (p < .05) and hand skills (p < .05). Boys in this group showed the strongest degree of right-handedness (p < .05). In the four lower performance groups,background variables such as type of preschool experience (p <.001),the presence of books in the home (p < .05) and mothers level of education (p <.001) were found to be significant. A regression model which incorporated environmental, epigenetic, cognitive and motoric factors was found to be the most viable in predicting processing skills. / Andrew Chakane 2018

Discrimination based on sexual orientation takes place on a regular basis in schools today. A major form of discrimination among learners in secondary schools is homophobic victimisation. South Africa is a democratic society with laws that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) learners, yet discrimination towards these learners still occurs. The objective of this research is to investigate teachers’ perceptions of homophobic victimisation among learners within independent secondary schools. The researcher adopted a phenomenological approach. The research design was qualitative and of an exploratory, descriptive and contextual nature. Information was gathered through questioning participants via an open-ended, structured questionnaire. Teschs’s eight step method of data analysis was used. An independent coder, together with the researcher, analysed the data. Three themes (and attendant categories) were identified, discussed and supported with literature. The first of these themes pertains to the institutional level and the school context, in particular. The categories identified under this theme pertained to teachers’ thoughts regarding a culture of acceptance of homosexuality and school policy regarding sexual orientation and homophobic victimisation. The second theme related to the individual level of the teachers and their perceptions regarding, firstly, homosexuality and, secondly, homosexually-oriented learners. The third and final theme identified was that of the individual level of the learners and the difficulties they experience. In particular, these difficulties pertain to social difficulties, acts of verbal, physical and emotional victimisation and the learners’ self-concept.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand, September 2016 / The research investigates the contribution of the low-fee private school sector towards access to quality education by examining two models of low-fee private schools in the Gauteng province, South Africa. The study generates insights about the contribution to quality education and implications of a growing low-fee private school sector for equity in the South African context. It looks at the factors that encourage the growth of the sector, the nature and challenges of running private schools and the quality of education offered by low-fee private schools. The study uses an exploratory qualitative research methodology and a case study design. Elite interviews with three experts; three founding directors; principals and two teachers from two low-fee private schools (one non-profit and the other one for-profit) in Bramley, Johannesburg were used as data collection instruments. The findings reveal that government support for private schools post-1994; excess demand due to middle class population growth in certain areas and differentiated demand owed to better quality and faith-based education are the key factors driving the growth of the private school sector in South Africa. The quality of education offered by low-fee private schools in South Africa is different across schools and mirrors the inequalities in the public school system. With reference to the literature, it is clear that the low-fee private school sector plays a noteworthy role, ensuring that some learners have access to schools in areas where government has not been able to keep up with the middle class population growth. Low-fee private schools give parents the opportunity to choose faith-based schools in a country where the public education system is faith-neutral. Although low-fee private schools are viewed as an alternative from public schools due to the poor quality offered by the latter, it is important to note that there are great differences with the quality offered by different schools in the private sector. / MT2017

Thesis (M.Ed.) --University of Limpopo, 2008 / This dissertation describes the schooling experiences of learners in farm schools in the Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province. The study examines how learners and teachers cope with the daily challenges they face in farm schools. The study followed a qualitative approach, where a case study design was used. Two methods of data collection were used, namely, interviews and observations. The study found that schooling in farm schools was characterized by a lack of basic learning and teaching resources such as classrooms, chalkboards, and basic amenities such as toilets. It was also found that the use of the multi-grade system adversely affected quality schooling

M. Tech. Architecture. / This thesis presents the design of a secondary school in the township of Emzinoni, Mpumalanga. The thesis challenges the current school building morphology in terms of spatial layout and tectonics, with the intent of providing multi-use facilities accessible to both the school pupils and the surrounding community. The selected site in Emzinoni, like many township areas in South Africa, is almost devoid of any civic or public buildings or services, just the endless sprawl of small residential units and shacks with the random school rising two storeys above the surrounding context. With the large capital expenditure of building a new school, this project endeavours to show a school that is more than a facility for learning or imparting knowledge; a school that can be the centre of the community and a neighbourhood activity hub, providing services and activities to the total community, to benefit all.