Bibliography: leaves 79-83. / The importance of In-service training in Botswana's education system cannot be overemphasised. The formulation of an in-service policy and deployment of resources in the support of the policy, is testimony of the government's commitment to the in-service work. In-service is highly regarded in the education system because, it is hoped that it will transform the practice of serving teachers. The implementation of policy, however, is always a complex matter. The purpose behind this research study was to investigate how the policy on in-service was understood and represented by trainers in the field of practice. This study arises from the fact that policy analysis is an area that has been overlooked in the study of in-service work. The literature on in-service, in the developing world, has ably dealt with mechanics of policy implementation, with a strong bias towards the acquisition of resources and the procedures necessary for the successful implementation of in-service policy. Investigating the way policy is understood by in-service providers has not, however, been given the attention it deserves in the field of research. The interest in this area of study was, further, given impetus by the argument that intentions of policy texts are likely to be represented differently in practice. A group of in-service trainers in a particular regional in-service area were selected for the purpose of information gathering. The selection was done on the basis that trainers were key interpreters of in-service policy. As the study depended on their subjective information, semi structured interview questions were designed as they provided trainers with some degree of freedom, to express their understanding of policy unhindered. The research study, established that policy is understood in keeping with trainers' backgrounds. This means that policy is not necessarily represented according to the intentions of the texts. Two groups of trainers are identified, viz, the poorly grounded and well grounded trainers. Trainers classified as well grounded, demonstrated a higher knowledge of policy and correctly interpreted the policy texts. This is in contrast with poorly grounded trainers who had not well read the policy texts and as a result incorrectly interpreted policy texts. The study concludes that policy representation is complex and informed by everyday understandings.

Differentiation has become a crucial policy driver in higher education systems that attempts to respond to global pressures for a highly skilled labour force, employ new technologies and adapt to unpredictable or volatile global product markets and rapid technological change. In order to be globally competitive, nations have to place knowledge production, accumulation, transfer and application at the centre of their national development strategies. This study investigates the case of Lesotho, a relatively small African country with a colonial past that has left a lasting imprint, both enabling and constraining, on many aspects of its education system. The aim of this explanatory case study was to identify differentiating trends within Lesotho's higher education system, focusing on two institutional types: the polytechnic and the university. These institutions were investigated at both institutional and programme level. The research question was "How differentiated is the polytechnic-university binary division in the public sector higher education system in Lesotho?" The sample for the study comprised two schools and two faculties at the polytechnic and the university respectively. One programme under each school or faculty was investigated.

Bibliography: leaves 89-93.

Bibliography: leaves 116-125.

Bibliography: 129-134. / If the main objective of schooling is the holistic development of the learner, i.e. the development of cognitive skills, critical thinking skills, social skills, life skills, creativity and emotional maturity, then it stands to reason that a quality school is one which contributes to such a holistic development of the learner. Therefore indicators of quality schooling would be those factors which make the holistic development of the learner possible. The important point to bear in mind however, is that these factors (indicators) in themselves are not standard nor static, they are dynamic and context-specific. It is this conceptual framework which underpins the research study. Tue research study is informed by the work of West and Hopkins (1996), Schmelkes (1996), Heneveld (1994) and Govinda & Vargese (1993), who propose a more ''whole school approach" in the measurement of school performance. The indicators of quality schooling were measured separately, but it is their collective impact that must be considered when attempting to assess the quality of schooling. Over a seven month period a co-educational secondary public school centrally situated in a community which resides in an economically and socially deprived area of the Western Cape, was closely observed and studied. The items and questions used in the questionnaires, interviews and observations were significantly influenced by the following: the work of West and Hopkins' (1996) four domains of school effectiveness; the IIEP research on increasing and improving the quality of basic education and Heneveld's (1994) model: Factors that determine School Effectiveness. The case study illustrates that when assessing the quality of schooling of any school it is important to assess all the factors that impact on the quality of schooling.

An effect of apartheid among the youth has been that transformation in educational institutions has largely not moved beyond artificial interaction. There is an obvious divide between public rhetoric of integration and private experience. A reason for this may be that the private realm is a fertile and productive space for the reproduction of prejudice, where desire is seemingly coded in private tastes and not political ideologies. Theoretically I examine how historical public discourses come to function as personal norms, expressed as personal desire not political ideology. Literature has shown that these racial ideologies function both to fetishize the Other in interracial relationships and to maintain the hegemony of whiteness in interracial contact. Through narrative interviews with a select group of white teenage girls from a mixture of schools in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, I analyse how historical power relations become an intimate part of our subject experience. Drawing on a psychoanalytical account of ideology I examine how their racial subjectivities are predicated on exclusionary logics that bar certain objects from being produced as desirable for them.

Includes bibliographical references. / The weak performing Mozambican education system has gone through significant changes since independence in 1975. The Government’s main focus has been on increasing access and equity to overcome the high dropout rates, high grade repetition, high pupil-teacher ratios and the low number of qualified teachers. Despite this focus, access remains a large problem for the people of Mozambique. It is particularly so, as this interpretive case study research revealed, for learners from rural areas. The primary purpose of this research, therefore, was to outline the challenges learners from rural areas face in accessing what has been described as the ESG2 (Escola Secundária geral do Segunda Grãu) cycle. This research focussed on a specific school within the Zambézia province.

Bibliography: leaves 87-90. / The purpose of this study is to compare and assess two theoretical models of higher education institutional change: the policy response and the adaptational model. The policy response model is essentially a measurement of policy impact, and through the application of an indicator framework allows the evaluation of the extent to which a higher education institution has applied a government policy directive. The adaptational model is based on the idea that institutional change can be explained in terms of the categorisation of the strategic choices an institution makes in order to adapt to and survive in a constantly changing environment. The application of the two models is demonstrated through case studies of two South African higher education institutions: the University of Port Elizabeth and Peninsula Technikon.

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Bibliography leaves: 69-75. / Quality has been one of the most talked about issues in higher education in the last fifteen years. Concerns about the quality of higher education have been directed predominantly at publicly-funded institutions which have been required increasingly, in the last decade, to do more with less and expected, simultaneously, to provide assurance that the quality of educational provision is not being compromised. Quality assurance systems, established to measure and assess the quality of higher education institutions and programmes, have become a global trend. This movement, which began in Europe and the United States in the early to mid-1980s, has spread to many other countries. Publications on quality in higher education draw contributors from, inter alia, Hong Kong, Australia, India, Chile and Canada. The Fourth Biennial Conference of the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education which was held in South Africa in 1997 attracted more than 50 papers by contributors from 20 countries and many more countries were represented. Appropriately the theme of the conference was "Quality without frontiers". South Africa has been engaged in discussions about quality since the National Education Policy Investigation was launched in 1990. Although a relative newcomer to the 'quality movement', South Africans have not hesitated to draw on international expertise in an effort to join the global university system, especially as international accreditation of qualifications looms on the horizon. However, the most important reason for establishing a quality assurance system in South Africa is the need to achieve acceptable standards of quality across a system which has been distorted over time as a result of apartheid's discriminatory policies. This study looks at the extent to which South Africa has relied on models of quality assurance developed in older academic systems, notably those in Europe. The study is interested in how much South Africa's approach has been borrowed and what dynamics within the South African system have given it its specific character.