M.Ed. / The White Paper on the provision of education in the RSA (1983: 3) has made proposals for a new policy framework on issues of ownership, governance, finance and legal categories of schooling. On launching the White Paper (1993) on Education Provision, Prof. Sibusiso Bhengu (Minister of Education) (Learning Press No 7:712/03/1993:49) said that S.A. has never had a truly national system of education and training and does not have one yet. He added that the White Paper describes the process of transformation in education and training so that a system serving all our people, democracy and the RDP can come into existence. According to the ANC Discussion Document (1994:50) the upgrading of the teacher's quality will improve their competence. The country needs a dynamic system with a clear mission and sufficient scope to perform it. The ANC Discussion Document (1994: 50)states that teacher preparation and development would be the cutting-edge of educational

M.Ed. / Effective evaluation of teachers has as prime objective recognition of skills and professional development. This evaluation should take place as early as possible, as it is an important method of motivating and positively directing a teacher in his career. The principal and evaluating team should be the prime assessors of a teacher's input. Teacher motivation normally leads to acknowledgement as a professional teacher. There are numerous problems in educational evaluation, specifically seen in the light that this evaluation plays in improving education. Furthermore it must be stressed that the relationship between evaluator and teacher is of major importance. The teacher has to be led into realizing why he is performing his duty and must be motivated into using his full potential. A task which rests squarely on the shoulders of the principal. Productivity is determined by attitude and the role of the principal in nurturing a positive environment is vital. The demands of both present and future places a unique responsibility on a teacher. This calls for objective evaluation of the teacher where personnel development and job satisfaction can be progressive, without neglect of professional integrity. Communication and input from teachers, both as a group and individually, normally lead to commendable co-operation. Acknowledgement of the teacher's opinion leads to greater performance, in which case the pupil will certainly gain a great deal.

Limited research has been conducted on financial performance indicators in South Africa. In European countries, Australia and the United States of America, literature has shown that there has been extensive research and implementation of performance indicators, to measure the achievements of objectives. A literature study was conducted for this research on the usage of PI’s, with a view to pinpointing the financial indicators. The literature study was used to develop a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to universities and Technikons in South Africa, to obtain a measure of relevance and agreement on the performance indicators. The findings of the questionnaire culminated in a model that only consists of those indicators with a high level of concurrence among respondents. Performance indicators can serve as a management tool to measure performance and as a means to enhance transparency and accountability.

At present there is no cure or vaccine for Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) therefore prevention programmes are seen as the only means of reducing the spread of the disease. HIV/AIDS education programmes in schools have been identified as the most effective intervention because billions of children can be reached worldwide and because schools are the one social institution with which most children come into contact. Young people in particular have been identified as the age group most in need of a preventative programme. The aim of this study is to explore the perceptions of grade six and seven learners with regard to the Life Skills programme focusing on HIV/AIDS education in the Port Elizabeth region. In order to fulfill the above aim a qualitative study was undertaken within an exploratory descriptive approach. A non-probability, convenient sample of six schools were selected. Focus groups, utilising an unstructured interview, were used to gather qualitative data about the perceptions of grade six and seven learners. The focus groups consisted of 10-12 participants. The data was thematically analysed using Tesch’s approach. The major findings of the present study included the following: 1. Learners’ perceptions of completing the questionnaire were generally positive in nature. Negative perceptions related to practical issues such as the length of the questionnaire and the time of administration. 2. Learner’s perceptions of the programme were generally positive. 3. Learners’ felt more comfortable discussing HIV/AIDS with parents and teachers. xi 4. Learners’ appeared to be well informed about high-risk behaviour related to HIV/AIDS and existing myths. 5. Contact with HIV+ people is non-existent. However, learner’s felt that the programme had fostered positive attitudes towards HIV+ people. 6. Learner’s felt that schools had an important role to play in sharing information about HIV/AIDS. These findings seem to indicate positive outcomes for the programme as a whole, in that is was successful in terms of conveying information regarding HIV/AIDS; it led to positive changes in attitudes, especially towards HIV+ people; and it confirmed the school as the best setting for implementing HIV/AIDS Life Skills programmes.

Research asserts that learner performance in South African schools is in a state of crisis. While many more learners’ post-1994 in South Africa have physical access to education, very few have epistemological access. The quality of the education learners receive is polarised along socio economic lines. This crisis has its roots in the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, and as such, there is a need to transform the education system to ensure equal opportunity for all learners, and ultimately economic growth and security for the country. One of the explanations offered for the crisis in learner performance is the poor teacher education system. However, there is a paucity of research in teacher education generally in South Africa, and specifically in relation to pre-service teachers. Furthermore, little attention has been given to how initial teacher education could contribute to the promotion of a social justice agenda with the intention of transforming the South African schooling system. This research seeks to understand how the expectations, scaffolding and assessment of preservice teachers’ teaching practices can be utilised to promote social justice during the Teaching Practice (TP) component of initial teacher education. In answering the research question, I analyse data and literature to identify a set of key valued functionings of quality praxis that preservice teachers ought to be provided the capability to realise, at the level of achieved functioning. This is a qualitative case study located in the interpretive paradigm. The case under study is: quality teaching practices of pre-service teachers. This case is bound by context (initial teacher education in South Africa) and setting (the pre-service teacher in the classroom). Two South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were selected through purposive sampling and their respective Teaching Practice (TP) documentation was analysed. Focus group interviews were conducted with five lecturers involved in TP at one of the HEIs. The theoretical framework of the study used to guide the analysis of the data was underpinned by a social justice perspective on quality education. Given that a social justice perspective does not have analytic tools, I view quality pre-service teachers’ teaching practices as praxis and utilise the capability approach as a mechanism for identification and description of valued functionings and capabilities that contribute to quality praxis. There are four significant findings in my research. Firstly, there is consistency with regards to the valued functionings and capabilities across the TP documentation of the two participating HEIs. In other words, the conceptions of a capable pre-service teacher are similar. Secondly, if social justice goals are to be realised, greater clarity of the valued functionings needs to be evident in the TP documentation. Thirdly, the valued functionings can be categorised into those that are foundational and those that promote a social justice agenda. Finally, in promoting a social justice agenda, there are functionings that ought to be valued by the HEIs that are seemingly not currently valued.

M.Com. (Business Management) / In the light of the ever increasing competition characterising today's global economy (Dale, 1995: 48) and the drastic changes brought about by the new South Africa, local businesses would have to make a conscious effort to prosper in future. Research organisations accustomed to being subsidised by the state have a particular challenge to face in the new South Africa where all subsidies are being shrunk. The reason for this is political pressure to redirect state spending towards social upliftment programmes. Quality and customer satisfaction are important topics that get attention world-wide. Well managed service organisations have the following common virtues [Kotler & Armstrong, 1991: 610]: • A history of top management commitment to quality; • High standards for service quality are set; • Service performance is well monitored - both their own and that of competitors; • Employees as well as customers are being satisfied. The distinction between service quality and customer satisfaction is that, perceived service quality is a global judgement relating to the superiority of the service, whereas satisfaction is related to a specific transaction [Parasuraman, et al., 1988: 16]. Incidents of satisfaction over time, result in perceptions of service quality. According to Cronin & Taylor [1992: 65] perceived quality may play a bigger role (in comparison with satisfaction) in customer-intimate companies who need to do more than simply meet customers' "minimum requirements". Customer-intimate companies (for example research organisations) continually tailor and shape products and services to fit an increasingly fine definition of the customer [Treacy &Wiersema, 1993: 87]...

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract.

M.Cur. (Nursing Administration) / In this study the activities carried out by registered nurses working in family planning are assessed as well as the training nurses receive to equip them to function satisfactorily. Registered nurses are the main providers of family planning services in South Africa and function in an extended role to a far greater degree than nurses in most developed and developing countries. The study shows that registered nurses form a stable workforce. They perform a large number of family planning tasks but also spend a great deal of time on clerical and housekeeping tasks which limit the time available for quality client care. The need for more regular updating of clinical knowledge is evident as is the need for nurses to be kept informed on changes taking place in the Family Planning Programme. The study reveals that registered nurses are interested in and have a positive attitude towards family planning. If registered nurses are relieved of non-nursing tasks they will be able to meet the growing need for family planning services.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The main purpose of this study is to determine whether pupil quality influences educational standards. The development and growth of pupils are the result of hereditary and environmental factors. Environmental factors inter alia include the school's and teacher's involvement with pupils. The role that the school plays in the life of the pupil, is very important for his development. The school is the pupil's living place in which he becomes involved with his peer group. The pupil has to learn to socialise and to respect authority. Knowledge becomes unlocked through the pupil as well as for him. The school is the preparatory phase for his adult life. The qualities that the pupil obtains during his school years, largely determine the career that he will follow, his social status, his economic welfare and his self-concept. The empirical component of the investigation was based on the implementation of a questionnaire. Concerning validity and reliability, a principal component analysis (P.C.A.) was followed by a principal factor analysis (P.F.A.) in the first order analysis. This was followed by a second order P.C.A. and P.F.A. The variables resulting from this factor analysis procedure were then subjected to an item analysis. The identified variables, i.e, sex differences, educational qualifications, occupation, primary and secondary schools, school models, permanent place of residence, religion, marital status, children and income, were used to investigate the importance of pupil qualities and educational standards. The most important findings are: The majority of respondents regards pupil quality as a very important determinant which can influence educational standards. Great emphasis should be placed on reading in primary schools. Pupils with specific reading problems should receive continuing formal reading tuition in the secondary schools. Rationalisation within the teaching profession should not have an effect on support classes and remedial education. As far as achievement oriented education is concerned, care should be taken to ensure that pupils with problems and needs receive the necessary attention. The primary aim should be child centred education.

The study of poetry has become entrenched in most secondary school English syllabuses, including the English First Language Higher Grade syllabus of the Cape Education Department. This acceptance of poetry as a part of the formal academic programme has, however, been accompanied by a demand that could be considered contrary to the spirit of poetry: that an examination should conclude the study. The problem is exacerbated if this examination is set and controlled by an external body, since the nature and objectives of a standardised, mass examination frequently conflict sharply with the aims of studying poetry. The implications of such control over the examining of poetry go beyond this, however. These include the defining and narrowing of the course of study by means of lists of prescribed poems selected by a committee often far removed from the world of the candidates and the significant combined effect of these lists and the style of questioning adopted by the external examiners on methods of teaching. Furthermore, the influence of the external examination is not restricted to the final year of study; the approach to poetry during the entire senior secondary course (of three years) tends to conform to the pattern laid down by the final examination paper. This domination of the external examination over the study of poetry is acknowledged but not condoned. There is undoubtedly a need for further research into alternative ways of assessing a poetry course. In the face of reality, however, this study seeks to identify and analyse the many features of external control that influence the study of poetry; and to consider ways in which examinations in poetry can be devised, approached and used to the best effect in order to fulfil the aims of studying poetry. The most important of these aims are held to be the pleasure and enjoyment of personal engagement with a poem, where there is a meeting of minds, a generation and deepening of emotion and feeling, extension of awareness and stimulation of imagination.