Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The political and social changes that occurred after 1994 in South Africa, inevitably led to the emergence of a new educational era. Life Orientation (LO) was introduced as a new learning area within the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) and seeks to preventatively empower learners to take up their legitimate place as citizens within the national and international society (DoE, 2003:2). LO cannot only be liable for the holistic development of individual learners. The community in which learners grow up are faced with unique challenges that will inescapably influence their development. I highlight the influence of “Ubuntu” and “Ukama” on the process of becoming of each individual and therefore use the ecosystemic perspective as a theoretical framework for this study. I reflect on my own experiences within the LO classroom that led to the creation of fictional characters and case studies as a teaching strategy. In this study I distinguish between case study as a teaching strategy and a research methodology. I determine the lived experiences of Grade 8 learners in a secondary school where this teaching strategy was used within the LO classroom. A case study as research methodology is used where qualitative data was produced through personal documentation. A random sample of ten participants from the case study is used to obtain a thorough understanding of their lived experiences. Qualitative data was further produced by twenty individual and two focus group interviews with the sample group. I used the constant comparative method to ensure that I identify the units of meaning and discuss the findings on the basis of three categories. First, the data indicated that the participants found guidance through the case studies of the characters. Secondly, it appeared that the experiences of the characters influenced the participants’ decision making processes. Thirdly, the data indicated that participants used this teaching strategy as a platform to voice their own personal emotions and experiences. On the basis of Gilles Deleuze (in Wallin, 2010) and Magdeleine Grumet (1981) this study emphasizes the potential role that an evolving, active form of curriculum can play in the becoming processes of each individual learner and teacher. I conclude by recommending that uniqueness and diversity must be encouraged within the classroom to ensure that curriculum will not be a homogeneous policy document, but that it will be active and developmental in nature. I use the work of Wallin (2010), Sutton and Martin-Jones (2008) and Grumet (1981) to offer new insights about the pedagogical making process within the South African context. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die politiese en sosiale veranderinge wat na 1994 binne Suid-Afrika plaasgevind het, het onvermydelik gelei tot die ontstaan van ʼn nuwe opvoedkundige era. Lewensoriëntering (LO) was as ʼn nuwe leerarea binne die Hersiene Nasionale Kurrikulumverklaring (HNKV) bekendgestel en poog om op ʼn voorkomende wyse leerders te bemagtig om hul geregmatige plek as burgers binne die nasionale, sowel as internasionale samelewing op te neem (DvO, 2003:2). LO kan nie alleen aanpreeklik gehou word vir die holistiese ontwikkeling van individuele leerders nie. Die gemeenskap waarbinne die individuele leerders groot word het sy unieke uitdagings en sal daarom onwillekeurig hierdie ontwikkelingsproses beïnvloed. Ek beklemtoon daarom “Ubuntu” en “Ukama” se invloed op die individu se wordingsproses en gebruik die ekosistemiese perspektief as ʼn teoretiese raamwerk vir hierdie studie. Ek reflekteer oor my eie ervarings binne die LO-klaskamer wat aanleiding gegee het tot die ontstaan van fiktiewe karakters en gevallestudies as onderrigstrategie. In hierdie studie onderskei ek tussen gevallestudies as onderrigstrategie en navorsingsmetodologie. Ek bepaal die geleefde ervaring van graad 8-leerders in een sekondêre skool waar dié onderrigstrategie in die LO-klaskamer gebruik word. ʼn Gevallestudie word as navorsingsmetodologie gebruik waar kwalitatiewe data deur persoonlike dokumentasie geproduseer is. Ten einde ʼn deeglike begrip te verkry van die gevallestudie se geleefde ervaring is ʼn ewekansige steekproef van tien deelnemers gebruik. Kwalitatiewe data is verder deur twintig individuele en twee fokusgroeponderhoude met hierdie steekproef geproduseer. Ek het deurgaans die konstante vergelykende metode om eenhede van betekenis te identifiseer gebruik en bespreek my bevindinge aan die hand van drie kategorieë. Eerstens dui die data aan dat deelnemers leiding uit die gevallestudies van karakters ontvang het. Tweedens blyk dit of die ervarings van die karakters die deelnemers se besluitnemingsproses beïnvloed het. Derdens dui die data aan dat deelnemers hierdie onderrigstrategie as ʼn platform gebruik het wat hulle in staat gestel het om uiting aan hul persoonlike emosies en ervarings te gee. Ten slotte beklemtoon hierdie navorsingstudie aan die hand van Gilles Deleuze (in Wallin, 2010) en Magdeleine Grumet (1981) se werk die potensiële rol wat ʼn ontwikkelende, aktiewe vorm van kurrikulum in die wordingsproses van elke individuele leerder en opvoeder kan speel. Ek beveel daarom aan dat uniekhede en diversiteit binne die klaskamer aangemoedig moet word ten einde te verseker dat kurrikulum nie as ʼn homogene beleidsdokument aanvaar word nie, maar dat dit aktief en ontwikkelend van aard sal wees. Ek gebruik die werk van Wallin (2010), Sutton en Martin-Jones (2008) en Grumet (1981) om nuwe insigte rondom die pedagogiese wordingsproses binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks aan te bied.

This research paper seeks to explore whether the University of KwaZulu-Natal (U.K.Z.N) Humanities Social Science Faculty (HSF) can provide utility (economic) value to the eThekwini region and the South African developmental state. Utility value within this paper is defined as being, „The welfare a given investor assigns to an investment with a particular expected return and risk.‟ (duke.edu). A developmental state according to Professor Ziya Onis is a “…state where the government is intimately involved in the macro and micro-economic planning in order to grow the economy.” (Onis 1991). Each existing developmental state has approached its development in a unique and contextually relevant manner. Yet all developmental states have one key variable prominent: Human Capital Development through investment in the Science Engineering and Management streams of study. This research project uses a qualitative research approach comprising of semi-structured interviews with selected personnel from the University‟s Humanities Social Science Faculty, private sector organisations, the local municipality, a representative from the Minister of Higher Education and Training and the Reference group set up by the Ministry to investigate the state of the HSF in South Africa. Six key questions will inform this research. Firstly, what is the content and curriculum make-up of a Humanities Social Science of the University of KwaZulu-Natal degree and what factors inform its make-up? Secondly, what is utility value expressed in employment terms does an HS degree provide? Thirdly, how are HSF Degrees structured to offer both knowledge and utility value to their students - and in turn - the South African job market? Fourthly, where do HSF graduates get employed i.e. in which Government Departments or industries do they find employment? Fifthly, what meaningful role does an HSF degree offer in the context of the developmental State in South Africa? And finally, does the UKZN HSF and its degrees need an overhaul? And if it is concluded that it does not need it, why does it not? This research project found that the Humanities Social Science Faculty and its products, the graduates , do provide utility value - needed for leading people and organisations - in the form of management skills, deductive reasoning, critical and lateral thinking. However, if the current state of the HS-Faculty continues, namely; the large number of students enrolled, the non-enterprising curriculum, the non-collaborative relationship between the faculty and local business and governmental structures, the HSF will have no “active role” in the developmental state and will in “fact” become a problem. And subsequently, a problem that contributes to the phenomena of unemployable graduates in a major way. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

This study surveyed the opinions of academic administrators of associate degree nursing programs, community college social science programs, and community college biological science programs regarding major benefits and concerns associated with the employment of part-time faculty. This study found that most part-time social science faculty teach in the classroom, half participate in non-teaching faculty activities, and most are paid a contract amount per course or credit hour. Part-time biological science faculty differed only in that most teach a combination of classroom and lab/practicum. Part-time nursing faculty differed in all three areas. Most part-time nursing faculty teach in lab or practicum settings, most participate in more non-teaching activities than other part-time faculty, and most are paid an hourly wage. However, the benefits and concerns associated with the employment of part-time nursing faculty were not significantly different from those identified by academic administrators of the other programs with one exception. Academic administrators felt that part-time nursing faculty expose students to the latest technologies in specialty areas and part-time social science faculty do not. The benefits cited by the respondents, that were in addition to the benefits most frequently cited in the literature, include increased interaction with the community and the ability to "try out" prospective full-time faculty. The concerns cited by respondents, that were in addition to the concerns most frequently cited in the literature, include the inability to find qualified part-time faculty to fill available positions and the concern that the employment of part-time faculty causes resentment among full-time faculty. The results from this study indicate that the literature pertaining to the benefits and concerns associated with the employment of social science and biological science part-time faculty in community colleges can be used to develop policies regarding part-time faculty in associate degree nursing programs.

This thesis explains the development of a website for eighth graders about the Battle of Gettysburg. One purpose of the project is to provide several primary source documents, pictures, video from a reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, clips from movies about the Civil War, and other material that suppport the students in their learning. The second purpose is to fulffill standard 8.10 of History-Social Science Content Standards for eight grade. This project will help students fulfill this requirement.

Online learning is a rapidly growing phenomenon in post-secondary education. Institutions of higher learning have embraced online learning for its perceived merits, but without the consideration of how instructors deal with this different learning medium. Little is known of the extent to which different disciplines are suited to the online medium; this is pertinent to disciplines that rely on spontaneous in-person discussion. Furthermore, as colleges continue to invest heavily in online learning, instructors who only possess face-to-face teaching experience may begin teaching online. This poses a pedagogical challenge for instructors who are unfamiliar with the medium. This qualitative, in-depth interview study with ten social science instructors elucidates the process of transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching. Through grounded analysis, a few key themes emerged. Respondents explain that teaching in the online classroom is qualitatively different from teaching in-person. The asynchronisity of the online classroom - which means students do not "meet", discuss, or learn at the same time - is a subtle yet significant difference between the two mediums. The asynchronous classroom means instructors relinquish control of when and where students will engage in study and discussion, and this requires students to have especially high self-regulatory skills. Respondents also explained that their online courses were several times larger than their in-person ones, with some courses allowing over twice as many students as an in-person course. Consequently, instructors must find new ways to approach teaching in the online medium. This pitfall of relying on old, obsolete methods in the online medium can be avoided if instructors are provided with the peer and pedagogical support of their professional peers, and access to teaching assistants to manage the greater time commitment of teaching online. In order to have a positive experience, online teachers must be willing to take on an intellectual challenge that may defy how they perceive themselves and their role in higher education. If instructors are open to a new intellectual challenge and possess the proper resources, they will become committed to teaching online and perceive the advantages of the medium to outweigh the disadvantages.

The predominant theme utilized by the Texas Centennial is the historical background Texas, which encompasses a hundred years of independence and four centuries of progress. This study aims to select and classify those buildings in the Texas Centennial Exposition containing exhibits possessing educational significance for junior high school social studies students.

The present study is an attempt to obtain, from two groups of students, useful facts with which to evaluate the most effective method of presenting educational materials to junior-high-school students. The study is an attempt to measure and evaluate the achievement made in social studies, reading comprehension, and vocabulary in 1949 and 1950. The following questions form the basis for the present study: What method is best for the purpose of presenting materials to a class? Which method helps to solve the problem of the student most effectively? By which method is greater achievement made? If the two methods prove of equal value, then how much achievement may be attributed to the use of each method?

This investigation was designed to determine if teaching vocabulary through integrating English and Social Studies curricula would provide tenth grade students who are poor readers with strategies to improve their reading comprehension. The strategies used were designed to support struggling readers and English language development students to connect denotative and connotative meanings of words found in the novel Animal Farm to their social studies class' content.

This study begins by analysing and exploring problems associated with (a) history teaching as part of the Human and Social Sciences learning area, (b) history teaching within an Outcomes-based approach, and (c) history teaching and racism. In an effort to provide solutions to these problems the study proceeds to propose a framework for teaching history within the Human and Social Sciences learning area, to suggest a viable Outcomes-based approach to teaching history in the context of this learning area, and an attempt is also made to provide criteria for an anti-racist approach to history teaching. Further, teaching and learning strategies of how far learners can exhibit antiracist perspectives and attitudes have been developed. Overall, the study found that an interdisciplinary approach - intended to preserve history's identity within the Human and Social Sciences learning area- is worthwhile and essential, given the rich potential of the discipline to enrich and even gain from the unique insights that other disciplines within the learning area can provide. It is evident that history, either by itself or in association with other disciplines, lends itself well to Outcomes-based Education; and that while it is important and necessary to differentiate between learning outcomes on the one hand, and aims and objectives on the other, the former and the latter two demonstrate some significant overlaps. Given the crucial importance of improving race and a range of other relations in South Africa, the findings of the study seem to prove to be a feasible and indeed critically important way in which history teaching could deal with racial and other forms of viprejudice, injustice and discrimination. This seems to be the case because the findings reveal that learners registered progress in various aspects of anti-racist history teaching. Given the gains by learners, therefore, an Outcomes-based history teaching within the Human and Social Sciences learning area would seem to be an essential approach to learning programme development in the South African system of education and training. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

This is a qualitative interpretive study undertaken through a case study design. The study was carried out to investigate the responsiveness of Social Studies teacher training curriculum towards democratic citizenship education (DCE) with two colleges of education (primary) in Botswana, and the University of Botswana. The following instruments were used as a means to gather data: individual interviews, group interviews, qualitative-questionnaire and document analysis. The participants for the study were drawn from colleges of education Social Studies lecturers and student-teachers with Social Studies as a major subject and the University of Botswana lecturers in the Faculty of Education. The study was inspired by the quest for democratisation of the school system in Botswana through a responsive curriculum. Botswana is dubbed a shining example of democracy, yet active participation of citizens in the national agenda is far to be admired. The best genesis for this enormous task is with teacher training because teachers play a pivotal role in transforming the society through the diffusion of requisite knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes. Thus, this argument positions this study to explore the responsiveness of teacher training curriculum at primary teacher training colleges towards DCE. This study was informed by the constructivist perspective on education and teaching. Constructivism is defined by Darforth and Smith (2005) as a broad set of interrelated theories that suggest that knowledge is human creation. This means that, the ideas, attitudes and practices referred to as constructivism are about how humans who learn by building knowledge cooperatively through social interaction and application of prior knowledge in a continual interpretation of ongoing experiences. Moreover, this explains that people explore events and environments, interact among themselves and confront situations and challenge they encounter. The findings of the study show that the teaching of DCE at colleges of education has not been successful as was expected. Firstly, according to the participants, the curriculum does not have adequate content on DCE. Secondly, the values of DCE which are capable of developing student-teachers to be effective citizenship education teachers are not well included in the syllabus. Thirdly, college lecturers believe in active methods of teaching for DCE but perform the opposite in their classes. Lastly, colleges have a lot of challenges that hamper effective transmission of DCE. These range from lack of appropriate educational material for DCE to college leadership that does not recognise the voices of the students in decision making. This study, however, recognises efforts made by colleges to train formidable Social Studies teachers for the transmission of DCE. The study elevates an argument that in-service teachers need support in their effort to transmit DCE to pupils in primary schools. Thus, in the light of the pervasive influence of findings from this study I recommend that policy makers and curriculum planners should consider updating lecturers about the type of Social Studies teacher they are expected to produce. Also I recommend that colleges should review their study materials to align them to the ideals of DCE, with a view to fill the gaps and deficiencies that exist in some topics. Lastly, the study concludes by raising an essential argument that with the current teacher training curriculum and classroom atmosphere in colleges of education, Botswana’s goal of training effective and functional citizenry is an illusion. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum studies)