M.Ed. / According to government reports in the White Paper education must be accessible to the total population of the Republic of South Africa. Statistics indicate that a vast number of citizens have no qualification at all and a major part of the remainder only have a basic qualification. It is therefore vital that education be available to all, and the most effective way of providing education is by means of istance education. In order to solve the education crisis by means of distance education, one has to address the variety of problems that will be encountered. This study was intended to clarify some specific educational and personal problems encountered in distance education. With four of the problems identified i~ mind, a relevant literature study was done. From the insight gained by means of the literature study a questionnaire was formulated and distributed to ascertain the views of 7000 students. The students were all students at Technisa, the only technical college in distance education in the Republic of South Africa. After the acquired information was analysed, an interpretation of the data was done. The findings produced the following important information:- Students require study material with adequate information to enable them to work at an individual pace. Examples in the study material should be market related, and very clear step-by-step procedures should be provided. Lecturers should bear in mind that the students study on a part time basis, being employed during the day. For this reason unneccesary information is superfluous. Students also need extended time to finish a course. The language should be comprehensible at the level the students have enrolled at, t .e. NI-level terms and concepts shou1d be used for an NI student .. Alecturer should be able to express himsel f on paper and should provi de all the wri tten support needed by the student. This support and motivation should be fed back in the shortest time possible so that the student will not be left in the dark with long time delays between submitting an assignment and receiving it back again. Students need seminars/workshops by Technisa to enable them to put quest ions and queri es to their 1ecturer and to make contact with their fellow students. Such contact will mot ivate the students and ensure that they do not feel alone or left in the dark by Technisa. The questionnaire also brought to light that the majority of students were first time correspondence/distance education students, and this proves that distance education should adapt to di fferent student I s needs to study and succeed through distance education.

M.Ed. / The marked drop in the achievement-level of learners at the beginning of standard six has motivated this study. Whether standard six learners have a sufficient command of pre-high school knowledge and learning experience to cope with the standard six curriculum, is being investigated ...

This study seeks to determine the nature of the intellectual demands of the Higher Grade course in Mathematics with a view to early, more accurate prediction of individual pupil success in this course. The need for such early prediction is clearly indicated by the interest shown on the part of parents and pupils alike during the Standard Seven year where the realisation exists that Matriculation Mathematics is a subject sometimes found to be "overwhelmingly difficult". The "drop out" figure from the Higher Grade course to the Standard Grade course in most schools further demonstrates the need for more careful selection at the Standard Seven level. Both old (1973) and new (1984) syllabuses are analysed to determine the nature of the content and the intellectual level at which this should be taught. In addition, a series of past Cape Senior Certificate examination papers are investigated to reveal information about the nature and level of examining. Mental processes involved in the examination items are classified and the general composition of the examination papers is discussed. A test device suitable for Standard Seven pupils is developed on the basis of the composition of the Higher Grade Matriculation examination papers analysed. The object of this test is to provide that early indication to pupils of their ability to cope with the level of mental process required by the Higher Grade course in Mathematics. The investigation describes the construction, administration and further development of the test device and, furthermore, seeks to show its predictive validity for the Matriculation examination in Mathematics by comparing test results with successive school examination results over a three year period. The possibility of sex differences in Mathematics achievement and prediction are also investigated on the basis of the results obtained during the course of this experiment. General conclusions are drawn, the difficulties encountered are discussed and some suggestions for further research are offered.

M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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

M. Tech. Education / Since 1994, the field of education in South Africa has been facing a huge number of challenges. Curriculums and matters associated with curriculums in South Africa did unfortunately not escape these challenges. The current state of affairs is that South African educators do not play any part in curriculum development and are in no way involved in it. It seems that curriculums developed somewhere by government officials, or so-called curriculum specialists, and that those curriculums are then handed over to the educators for implementation. The above situation is a cause of concern for educator, who despite being regarded as the most important stakeholders in education; ironically have no say in the curriculums they have to implement. The current top down approach in curriculum development is detrimental to education in this country, since educators cannot adjust something they were not part of. Educators, business people and parents should be afforded opportunities to become partners in the process of curriculum development by letting their voices be heard before the actual implementation of any curriculum development. It is therefore imperative that educators should be given opportunities and platforms to give their inputs and to play an active role in all curriculum matters. Educators are the principal role-players in addressing educational challenges. The process has not yet stabilised and therefore it is so important that there should be dialogue about what is expected of educators when it is suggested that they should be involved in curriculum development. The main purpose of this study was to investigate and explain the possible links between curriculum development and the involvement of educators.

It will be generally accepted that teacher education is an important factor underpinning the quality and success of the schooling system in South Africa. Key agenda items in the debate and discourse on the provision of teacher education, in parliamentary and extra-parliamentary circles, include teacher empowerment and professionalization, and teacher education curricula, programmes and policies in the context of an apartheid society in transition to a future democracy. The present study is a contribution to that debate. It focuses on selected aspects of the pre-service teacher education curriculum at one university Faculty. Data de rived from questionnaire surveys and documentary research are analysed and interpreted within the parameters of the critical paradigm of curriculum inquiry as these are given operational definition by the transformative model of teacher education. The analyses of student and staff perceptions of the curriculum and of curriculum and instructional structures show that the dominant form of teacher education in the Faculty embodies a technocratic rationality that serves to encourage acquiescence and conformity to the status quo in both schooling and society. It is argued that such a curriculum is an anachronism, given the prospect of a "new South Africa" that has become apparent since February 1990. In that context, the dissertation makes an attempt to offer a conceptual basis for an alternative framework in the reconceptualization of teacher education. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Durban-Westville, 1991.

With an intention of opening a vantage point on the story of how curriculum is actually created, this study follows the recontextualising of the environmental discourse of the National Curriculum Statement (R-9) in three case sites. These are: Grade seven Department of Education training material developed to introduce educators to the NCS (R-9), Delta Environmental Centre an environmental education non-governmental organisation, a rural primary school situated south of Durban. Using elements of the Bernstein’s (1990) framework of pedagogic discourse, the study traces how the environmental discourse was de-located from the field of production and relocated into the pedagogic practice of each case. In trying to follow the continuity, changes and discontinuities in the official [environmental] discourse as it is recontextualised, the study utilises Bernstein’s conceptual constructs of selective appropriation and ideological transformation. These constructs of selective appropriation and ideological transformation enabled me to ‘look into’ each case and get a perspective of how to explain the recontextualising processes. The study acknowledged that discourses are shaped and steered by historical, political and economic realities and begins by tracing the genesis of the environmental discourse within formal curriculum policy in South Africa. This socio-historical review highlights the main factors and happenings that shaped the present curriculum discourse and its production as official policy discourse. The study highlighted that within each case the recontextualising story is unique but some clear patterns emerged as factors that impacted on recontextualising processes. These were the role of history and context, knowledge and experience of the discourse, ideology and emphasis, and the depth with which the discourse was engaged. The discussion of these factors gave valuable insights into the recontextualising of curriculum discourses. The study comments on the need to clarify the environmental focus in the Learning Areas and to actualise this into practice so that the discourse becomes an integral part of teaching, learning and assessment. The study also highlights the need for professional development opportunities that will enable educators to clarify the nature and focus of the environmental discourse in the NCS (R-9), and its articulation in Learning Area in context. In particular, the environment and social justice relationships appear to require greater clarity of focus and interpretation in recontextualising processes. There also appears to be a need to develop educators’ foundational knowledge of environmental issues to strengthen the recontextualising of this discourse.

M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / Dozens of Teaching Science practitioners and educational administrators are asking fundamental questions today about the objectives of teacher education programs, the content of programs, instructional methods and quality of education of teachers. They recognised that current Teaching Science practices must be examined, evaluated, and in some cases, developed. There are obvious limits to the effectiveness of these Teaching Science programs to give prospective teachers skills necessary to be successful in their classrooms. This study investigates the guidelines for the improvement of Teaching Science at Colleges of Education that can ensure prospective teachers with ways of understanding the culture of classrooms and schools. The research was based on the assumption that, for prospective teachers to learn to teach effectively, they should be inculcated with an enriched structure and content of the subject Teaching Science curriculum, and valuable teaching knowledge should be communicated to them during their professional training process. In order to understand this problem in its total context an in depth study of the literature survey on the process of teacher education in the Republic of South Africa and the selected areas in the world was done. Data was collected from the interviews with the Heads of Education Department and beginner teachers and questionnaires were administered with principals of schools, Teaching Science lecturers and second and third year student-teachers. The data corpus includes case observations from prospective teachers on Teaching Practice. Their lesson plans, presentation of the teaching skills and post class reflection notes were analysed. Their subject expositions were also audiotaped to provide contextual descriptions. Findings indicate that there are many areas in which the subject Teaching Science curriculum needs improvement if it is to maintain its high degree of producing school teachers which the community will recognise and respect. The findings corroborated the hypotheses that the subject Teaching Science curriculum helps prospective teachers to be autonomous and active agents in their classrooms. The following are some of the most important findings: With regard to their lecturing, the majority of students claimed that many Teaching Science lecturers are ineffective classroom practitioners. It is revealed that Teaching Science lecturers who are less qualified are unfamiliar with the subject Teaching Science lecturing strategies whereas the highly qualified staff is always satisfied with its lecturing. Many student-teachers regarded Teaching Practice as a stressful time because they were not guided effectively by their Teaching Science supervisors on how to write genuine lesson preparations and schemes of work. Teaching Practice sessions are usually held at the beginning of the professional course. At that time students do not have maturity and knowledge of the theory on which teaching is based. Overall it appeared to show that theory and practice at Colleges of Education are still far apart and student-teachers are not given direct experience with the children they are going to teach. -In all Colleges of Education, Teaching Science facilities such as micro-teaching laboratory. dark room and media centre, are inadequate, -The study also revealed that the subject Teaching Science curriculum at Colleges of Education is more boring, less fun, more repetitious, discouraging, unattractive and less competitive. Students are not equipped with the subject Teaching Science curriculum to present interesting lessons. Beginner teachers are incapable of controlling their classes. marking registers and writing accurately on the chalkboard. It is because of this and other reasons that most student-teachers were always absent for Teaching Science periods. -The survey further revealed that the majority of beginner teachers are shy, self-centred and unable to establish good order in the classroom. -The traditional lecturer/teacher-centred approach in which the educator transfers information to learners is outdated, It was found that new approaches to assist prospective teachers may have important potential which needs to be explored diligently. -Based on the data collected and literature review the researcher provides proposals for the improvement of the subject Teaching Science curriculum at Teachers' Training Colleges. It is the wish of the researcher that this set of recommendations be effective tools in helping preservice teachers become successful teachers

D.Ed. (Educational Management) / The rendering and implementation of a suitable school curriculum for the educable intellectually handicapped pupil poses a problem on the micro level of circulating, and a managerial problem to both the teacher and the headmaster or managerial team of the special school. In the research in question, a literature study was undertaken, systematic reflection was done, a questionnaire was compiled, and practical experience as headmaster of a special school for whites in the Transvaal was implemented, to be able to: provide pedagogically founded curriculum guidelines for the teacher and the headmaster or managerial team as curriculators on the micro level and to design managerial structures and identify and describe managerial approaches, managerial styles or leadership styles and areas of management, with a view to supporting and realising curriculum implementation on the micro level...