M.Cur. / The purpose of the research study was to describe guidelines to improve the community health clinics as a learning context conducive to learning. The objectives of the study commenced by getting the perception of student nurses, community sisters and college tutors, to explore and describe the problems experienced in relation to community health clinics as a learning context for student nurses, especially when they are allocated for their clinical practicals to prepare them to become competent. The research design and method used, consisted of a qualitative approach to achieve the intended goal of the research study. The design was divided into two phases: Phase one consisted of a field/empirical study and phase two consisted of conceptualization. Phase one has three steps where each step indicates the research method, population and sampling, data collection and data analysis. Population and sampling for step I included all the fourth year students from a nursing college in Gauteng, who are in an educational programme leading to registration as a nurse (general, psychiatric and community) and midwife. Population and sampling for step II consisted of community sisters from ten community health clinics in the Southern Metropolitan Local Council. Population and sampling for step III consisted of community college tutors from a college in Gauteng; the sample size consisted of the whole population. In all the steps follow-up interviews were conducted to confirm the findings. To ensure trustworthiness Lincoln and Guba's (1985) model was implemented, and data analysis were according to Tesch's (1990 in Creswell, 1994:155) method, based on a qualitative approach. The major problems reflected in the research findings based on Step I, II, II indicate similarities and Step III only indicates some uniqueness. The conceptual framework was discussed, indicating a body of knowledge, based on the study and empirical findings from phase I, to give clear meaning and understanding regarding the research study. Problems from all the steps were used in an integrated manner as research findings and were compared with existing literature within the framework, to determine similarities and differences as literature control method. Guidelines were then formulated from phases I and II, to solve the indicated problems, based on the three different sample groups. Guidelines were supported by the conclusion statement from chapter four and the problem statement from chapter three. Essential actions were indicated for operationalisation. Ethical consideration was maintained throughout the research study. The study has been evaluated by means of positive and negative issues related to the actual research process. Recommendations related to nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research were indicated accordingly.

Thesis (M.Mus)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since its inception, educators across the board in South Africa have struggled to implement the new curriculum. Initial problems with terminology and availability of learning materials have been addressed, but still the resistance to Outcomes Based Education (0BE) and Curriculum 2005 (C2005) continues. Some of the reasons for the resistance point to feelings of disempowerment experienced by generalist and specialist educators who now have to teach the new Learning Area Arts and Culture. This has been attributed to, amongst others, a lack of training, resulting in feelings of inadequacy, inappropriate training for large multicultural classes and the lack of teaching resources. Another reason for the resistance has been described as a resistance to change. Many educators have found it difficult to make the paradigm shift from the previous educational system to OBE and C2005. The aim of the study is to research and explore ways of empowering educators to teach Arts and Culture. The new educational system is geared to redressing the imbalances of the past and giving more expression to the diversity of cultures represented in South African schools. Whereas the previous system was founded on exclusively Eurocentric ideology, principles and values, the new system aims at a more inclusive Afrocentric approach. However, criticisms leveled at C2005 have suggested that it is still basically Western in terms of values, terminology and methodology. This study is therefore aimed at investigating a culturally diverse music/arts curriculum, which draws on the wealth of resources, methods and modes readily accessible in South Africa. A comprehensive literature review guides the study towards a greater understanding of how cultural identities are formed out of a need to belong and how important recognition is to individuals and groups, particularly in terms of their diverse cultural expressions. Music and the arts are understood as being vitally important channels for expression of this diversity. Yet, true to the Afrocentric principle of holism, unity is found in diversity. As much common ground exists between an integrated approach and an Afrocentric approach to music/arts education, these principles are explored to determine whether they can be adapted for use in contemporary South African classrooms. An integrated project mode, which provides a balance between the specific knowledge contexts of the various Learning Areas and collaborative learning aimed at developing the natural links between learning areas to create a vibrant whole, is suggested. The researcher conducted an integrated project at her school with the common theme of "District Six" linking four Learning Areas and their components. Participatory action research using qualitative methods such as questionnaires were used to determine the feasibility of an integrated project mode of learning as a means of empowering educators to teach Arts and Culture. Subsequently recommendations were made regarding implementation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sedert die instelling van die nuwe kurrikulum in Suid-Afrika het opvoeders gesukkel om dit te implementeer. Die aanvanklike probleme met terminologie en die gebrek aan geskikte bronne is aangespreek, maar die weerstand het nie verminder nie. Van die redes hiervoor verwys na gevoelens van ontmagtiging onder algemene en gespesialiseerde opvoeders wat die nuwe leergebied van Kuns en Kultuur moes aanbied. Die weerstand word toegeskryf aan, onder andere, gevoelens van ontoereikendheid, onvanpaste opleiding om met groot multi-kulturele klasse te werk en 'n gebrek aan onderrigbronne. 'n Ander rede is beskryf as teëstand teen verandering. Baie opvoeders het dit moeilik gevind om die paradigma-skuif te maak vanaf die vorige stelsel na Uitkoms Gebaseerde Onderwys (UG0) en Kurrikulum 2005 (K2005). Die doel van die studie is dus om navorsing te doen en ondersoek in te stel na maniere waarop opvoeders bemagtig kan word om Kuns en Kultuur aan te bied. Die nuwe opvoedingstelsel is gefokus op regstelling van die onewewigtighede van die verlede en op 'n groter uitdrukking van die kulturele diversiteit wat in Suid-Afrikaanse skole verteenwoordig is. Terwyl die vorige stelsel gebaseer was op 'n Eurosentriese ideologie, beginsels en waardes, is die nuwe gefokus op 'n Afrosentriese benadering. Tog is daar kritiek teen Kurrikulum 2005 juis omdat dit nog altyd gebaseer is op Westerse waardes, terminologie en metodes. Die studie gaan dus oor 'n kurrikulum vir musiek en die kunste wat inspirasie put uit die rykdom van Suid-Afrikaanse bronne, metodes en modusse. 'n Omvattende literatuur oorsig voer die studie tot die begrip dat kulturele identiteit gevorm word uit 'n behoefte om te behoort en deel te wees, hoe belangrik erkenning van individue en groepe is, veral om hul diverse kulturele identiteit uit te druk. Eie aan die Afrosenstriese beginsel van holisme kan eenheid binne diversiteit gevind word. Omdat daar baie gemeenskaplikheid bestaan tussen 'n geïntegreerde en 'n Afrosentriese benadering tot musiek/kuns opvoeding, word die beginsels verken om te bepaal of dit aangepas kon word vir gebruik in hedendaagse Suid- Afrikaanse klaskamers. 'n Geïntegreerde projek-modus word voorgestel, wat 'n balans skep tussen die spesifieke kontekste van kennis in verskeie Leerareas en koöperatiewe leer wat daarop gemik is om die natuurlike skakels tussen die verskillende Leerareas te ontwikkel sodat 'n groter geheel geskep word. Die navorser het by haar skool 'n geïntegreerde projek oor Distrik Ses geloods wat vier leergebiede, insluitend hul komponente, ingetrek het. Deelnemende aksie-navorsing soos vraelyste is gebruik om die uitvoerbaarheid van die geïntegreerde projek-metode te bepaal as 'n metode om opvoeders te bemagtig om Kuns en Kultuur by skole aan te bied. Dit sluit af met voorstelle wat gemaak is in verband met die implementering van die nuwe Kurrikulum.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The complex ethical dilemmas created by advanced technological medicine and problematic doctor-patient relationships have lead to an increasing interest in medical ethics education since the 1980's. The Medical School of the University of Pretoria has embarked on a new undergraduate medical curriculum in 1997. Ethics is educated in a longitudinal fashion over the six years of the medical curriculum and has focussed largely on the principal-based approach as described by Beauchamp and Childress. The research participants were the first final year class of this new curriculum, while the facilitators were medical educators or philosophers. The major finding was that the students were not yet able to identify ethical dilemmas with ease, although they were successful in the application of the principal-based approach to the vignettes of the study. The students did not cope well with the uncertainty created by ethical dilemmas and sought to solve the situation by creating boundaries provided by medical law. Therecommendations of the study are that the theoretical component of the ethics curriculum should: 1) include more approaches to ethics, than only the principal-based approach; 2) address daily experienced ethical dilemmas during the study years in small group discussions; 3) and implement a portfolio assessment which can serve as a tool for students to track their own development in reflection on ethical dilemmas. In conclusion, the question remains whether we are currently ready to come ""face to face" with the "other" as Levinas argues or are we still divided into "only two classes of mankind in the world - doctors and patients" as remarked by Kipling in the 19th century. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die komplekse etiese dilemmas, veroorsaak deur hoogs gespesialiseerde tegnologiese medisyne en die problematiese dokter-pasiënt verhouding, het gelei tot 'n verhoogde belangstelling in mediese etiekonderrig sedert die 1980's. Die Mediese Skool van die Universiteit van Pretoria het in 1997 'n nuwe voorgraadse mediese kurrikulum geïmplimenteer. Etiek is op 'n longitudinale manier onderrig oor ses jaar in die mediese kurrikulum en het gefokus op die beginsel-benadering soos beskryf deur Beauchamp en Childress. Die navorsingsdeelnemers was die eerste finale-jaar klas van die nuwe kurrikulum, terwyl die fasiliteerders mediese dosente of filosowe was. Die hoofbevinding van die kurrikulum was dat die studente nie die etiese dilemmas met gemak kon identifiseer nie, alhowel hulle suksesvol die beginsel-benadering kon toepas op die gevallestudies. Die studente hanteer nie onsekerheid, veroorsaak deur die etiese dilemmas, met gemak nie en probeer om die saak op te los deur die skep van grense verskaf deur mediese reg. Die aanbevelings van die studie is dat die teoretiese komponent van die etiekkurrikulum die volgende moet bevat: 1) bekendstelling aan meerdere benaderings tot die etiek, bo en behalwe die beginsel-gebaseerde benadering; 2) aanspreek van die daaglikse etiese dilemmas gedurende die studiejare in kleingroepbesprekings; 3) en die implementering van 'n portfolio-evaluasie, wat kan dien as 'n instrument vir die studente om hul eie ontwikkeling aangaande nadenke oor etiese dilemmas na te gaan. Opsommend, die vraag is steeds of ons tans gereed is om "aangesig-tot-aangesig" te verkeer met die "ander" soos Levinas redeneer of is ons steeds verdeel in "slegs twee klasse van menswees in die wêreld - dokters en pasiënte" soos opgemerk deur Kipling in die 19deeeu.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This survey research employed a criterion-referenced multiple-choice questionnaire to collect data from 194 FET Geography teachers in the Western Cape province to assess their level of literacy in both climate change science and climate change pedagogy, and to determine the influence of gender, age, qualification, specialisation, experience, grade mostly taught, their experience in providing instruction on climate change and the location of their school. Aspects of climate change science assessed include: climate processes and probable causes of climate change; climate change impacts; and climate change responses. Aspects of climate change pedagogy assessed include: the aims and significance of climate change education; and constructivist teaching principles and practice. The collected data was analysed using percentage frequencies to determine the teachers‟ level of literacy in climate change science and climate change pedagogy; the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to determine the influence of the mediating variables on climate change science literacy and climate change pedagogical literacy, respectively. The results indicate that Geography teachers in the Western Cape Province demonstrated „High‟ literacy in climate change science and „Low‟ literacy in climate change pedagogy. Factors such as school location, gender, age and teaching experience were found to have a significant influence on climate change science literacy; whereas qualification, specialisation, grade mostly taught and experience in providing instruction on climate change did not. Conversely, teaching experience and grade mostly taught had a significant influence on climate change pedagogical literacy; whereas school location, gender, age, qualification, specialisation and experience in providing instruction on climate change did not. Based on these findings, it is recommended that professional development interventions in climate change pedagogy are required in order to expose Geography teachers to the aims and significance of climate change education and methods of facilitating problem-based, learner-centred instruction on climate change. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie opnamenavorsing het gebruik gemaak van ‟n kriteriumverwysing- meerkeusige vraelys om data by 194 VOO Aardrykskunde onderwysers in die Wes-Kaap provinsie te versamel om hulle vlak van geletterdheid in beide die wetenskap en pedagogie van klimaatsverandering te bepaal en om die invloed van geslag, ouderdom, kwalifikasie, spesialisasie, ervaring, graad wat die meeste onderrig is, hulle ervaring van onderrig oor klimaatsverandering en die ligging van hulle skool te bepaal. Aspekte van klimaatsverandering wat geassesseer is, het klimaatsprosesse en moontlike oorsake van klimaatsverandering, impakte van klimaatsverandering en reaksies op klimaatsverandering ingesluit. Aspekte van die pedagogie van klimaatsverandering wat geassesseer is, het die doelwitte en betekenisvolheid van opvoeding oor klimaatsverandering en konstruktivistiese onderrigbeginsels en -praktyk ingesluit. Die versamelde data is met persentasiefrekwensie geanaliseer om die onderwysers se vlak van geletterdheid in die wetenskap en pedagogie van klimaatsverandering te bepaal; die Mann-Whitney en Kruskal-Wallis toetse is gebruik om die invloed van bemiddelende veranderlikes op geletterdheid met betrekking tot die wetenskap en pedagogie van klimaatsverandering onderskeidelik te bepaal. Die resultate dui aan dat Aardrykskunde-onderwysers in die Wes-Kaap „Hoë‟ geletterdheid in die wetenskap van klimaatsverandering en „Lae‟ geletterdheid in die pedagogie van klimaatsverandering getoon het. Faktore soos ligging van die skool, geslag, ouderdom en onderrigervaring het ‟n betekenisvolle invloed op geletterdheid in klimaatsverandering gehad, terwyl kwalifikasie, spesialisasie, graad wat die meeste onderrig is en ervaring van onderrig oor klimaatsverandering nie so ‟n invloed gehad het nie. In teenstelling het onderrigervaring en graad wat die meeste onderrig is, ‟n betekenisvolle invloed op geletterdheid in klimaatsverandering gehad, terwyl ligging van die skool, geslag, ouderdom, kwalifikasie, spesialisasie en ervaring van onderrig oor klimaatsverandering nie so ‟n invloed gehad het nie. Op grond van hierdie resultate kan gesê word dat professionele ontwikkelingsingrypings in die pedagogie van klimaatsverandering nodig is om Aardrykskunde-onderwysers bloot te stel aan die doelwitte en belangrikheid van onderwys oor klimaatsverandering en metodes om probleemgebaseerde, leerdergesentreerde onderrig oor klimaatsverandering te fasiliteer.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa is in the midst of a mathematics and science education crisis that challenges all key role-players. The Institute for Mathematics and Science Teaching at the University of Stellenbosch (IMSTUS), was involved in several university-school partnership (systemic intervention) projects that sought to provide continuing professional development to mathematics and science teachers and to help them make a greater impact on the learners that they teach. One of these intervention projects was the Sciences and Mathematics Initiative for Learners and EducatorS (SMILES) that targeted mathematics and science teachers and learners in under-resourced schools in the Western Cape. The effects of an intervention aimed at supporting and enhancing teacher professional development will only be seen in the learners once teachers have accepted and mastered the pedagogies proposed. Professional development that does not “enthuse, support, train and renew, and encourage” will probably fail. When considering this, the question that must be asked is whether the SMILES project was in fact enthusing, supporting, training, renewing and encouraging. The purposes and aims of the SMILES project with specific reference to professional development of science teachers were to enhance teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and address the critical issues confronting science education of which three are: constructivist teaching, understanding the nature of science, and scientific argumentation. The characteristics of effective professional development, the core features of professional development and the theoretical constructs to evaluate professional development of teachers were used in this study to evaluate the effectiveness of the model used in the SMILES project. A concurrent version of the mixed method approach was adopted for the collection and analysis of the data. Although causality is always difficult to prove in a school setting because of the many variables that affect student performance, improved student achievement is the ultimate litmus test for teacher professional development effectiveness. Analysis of the National Senior Certificate results of the project schools compared with the National and Provincial results indicated that the project schools on the whole fared better than the National results. The project schools outperformed the national and provincial results for Life Sciences in 2011, 2012 and 2013 by at least four percentage points. The highest result achieved was 85,5% in 2011. In 2012 and 2013 these results were 82,7% and 83,0% respectively. In Physical Sciences the project schools started with results below that achieved nationally (34,7%) and then ended up with a pass percentage within half a percentage point of the provincial result (72,1%). The Mathematics results were not as positive. The project schools started by achieving a 63,4% pass rate and ended with a percentage pass rate of 63,3% having initially taking a dip down to 51,3%. At the end of the intervention the Mathematics results were better than the national results but were 10% lower than the Provincial average. Although it is difficult to pin down the results solely to the effects of the intervention, the comparison with provincial and national results reasonably controls for most of the extraneous variables including variations in enrolments in these subjects. On the affective side it is almost certain that the attitude of the learners and the teachers toward their respective subjects improved during the tenure of the project. This could have had a positive effect on the National Senior Certificate results achieved by the project schools. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika is midde in 'n wiskunde en wetenskap onderwyskrisis wat alle sleutelrolspelers uitdaag. Die Instituut vir Wiskunde en Wetenskaponderwys aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch (IWWOUS), was betrokke by verskeie universiteit-skool vennootskapsprojekte (sistemiese intervensie) wat gepoog het om voortgesette professionele ontwikkeling te bied aan wiskunde en wetenskap onderwysers en hulle te help om 'n groter impak op die leerders wat hulle onderrig, te maak. Een van hierdie intervensie-projekte was die Wetenskappe en Wiskunde-inisiatief vir leerders en opvoeders (SMILES) wat wiskunde en wetenskap onderwysers en leerders, in hulpbronarm skole in die Wes-Kaap, geteiken het. Die impak van 'n intervensie wat daarop gemik is om onderwyser professionele ontwikkeling te ondersteun en bevorder, sal eers in die leerders waargeneem kan word, wanneer onderwysers die voorgestelde pedagogieë aanvaar en bemeester. Professionele ontwikkeling wat nie "begeester, ondersteun, oplei en vernuwe asook aanmoedig” nie, sal waarskynlik misluk. Hierdie stelling in ag genome, is die vraag wat gevra moet word, of die SMILES-projek werklik onderwysers begeester, ondersteun, opgelei, vernuwe en aangemoedig het. Die doelstellings en doelwitte van die SMILES projek, met spesifieke verwysing na die professionele ontwikkeling van Wetenskap-onderwysers, was om onderwysers se pedagogiese inhoudelike kennis te versterk en om kritieke kwessies waarmee wetenskap-onderwys gekonfronteer word, aan te spreek. Drie van hierdie kwessies is, konstruktivistiese onderrig, begrip van die aard van wetenskap en wetenskaplike argumentering. Die eienskappe van effektiewe professionele ontwikkeling, die kern kenmerke van die professionele ontwikkeling en die teoretiese konstrukte om professionele ontwikkeling van onderwysers te evalueer, is in hierdie studie gebruik om die doeltreffendheid van die model wat in die SMILES-projek gevolg is, te evalueer. 'n Gelyklopend gemengde-metode benadering is gevolg vir die insameling en ontleding van die data. Hoewel oorsaaklikheid altyd moeilik is om in 'n skoolopset te bewys, as gevolg van die baie veranderlikes wat studente se prestasie beïnvloed, is verbeterde studente prestasie die uiteindelike lakmoestoets vir doeltreffendheid van professionele onderwyser-ontwikkeling. Ontleding van die Nasionale Senior Sertifikaat-uitslae van die projek-skole, in vergelyking met die nasionale en provinsiale resultate, dui daarop dat die projek-skole oor die algemeen beter gevaar het as die nasionale uitslae. Die projek-skole het die nasionale en provinsiale skole se resultate vir Lewenswetenskappe in 2011, 2012 en 2013 met ten minste vier persentasie punte oortref. Die hoogste resultaat behaal was 85,5% in 2011. In 2012 en 2013 was hierdie uitslae onderskeidelik 82,7% en 83,0%. In Fisiese Wetenskappe het die projek-skole met resultate onder wat nasionaal behaal was (34,7%) begin, en geëindig met ʼn uiteindelike slaagpersentasie binne 'n halwe persentasiepunt van die provinsiale resultate (72,1%). Die wiskunde-uitslae was nie so positief nie. Die projek-skole het begin met 'n 63,4% slaagsyfer en geëindig met 'n slaagpersentasie van 63,3% na ʼn aanvanklike insinking na 51,3%. Aan die einde van die intervensie was hul Wiskunde-resultate beter as die nasionale resultate, maar 10% laer as die provinsiale gemiddelde. Alhoewel dit moeilik is om die resultate slegs vas te pen aan die gevolg van die intervensie, dien die vergelyking met provinsiale en nasionale resultate as redelike kontroles vir meeste van die eksterne veranderlikes insluitend variasies in inskrywings in hierdie vakke. Op die affektiewe vlak is dit byna seker dat die gesindheid van die leerders en die onderwysers ten opsigte van hul onderskeie vakke verbeter het tydens die projek. Dit kon moontlik 'n positiewe uitwerking op die projek-skole se Nasionale Senior Sertifikaat resultate gehad het.

Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technologiae: Consumer Science: Food and Nutrition in the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Supervisor: Dr I Venter Co-supervisor: Ms L du Toit Cape Town September 2013 / Objective: To develop a valid and reliable test to determine the food knowledge of first-year students at a university of technology (UOT) in the Western Cape, South Africa. Design: Two preliminary food knowledge tests were developed covering the content domains, namely fruit and vegetables and fats and oils, as these topics attend to the areas of concern in the dietary intake of young adults. Both tests consisted of multiple-choice questions and incomplete statements compiled following the test item construction rules. The items of both tests were evaluated by experts in the field of food science and nutrition to ensure item content and face validity. Both tests were independently administered to two sample groups represented by knowledgeable students (having food-orientated subjects as part of their course) and less knowledgeable students (not having food-orientated subjects as part of their course syllabus) at a UOT in the Western Cape, SA for the item analysis and test construct validity and reliability determinations. The second preliminary test incorporating three response alternatives was developed as the number of items retained after the item analysis of the first preliminary test incorporating four alternatives was less than the envisaged number of about 20 items. Results: After the item analysis of the first preliminary test (n = 72 items) only 10 and 13 items were respectively retained after two administrations to two sample groups. The second preliminary test (n = 135 items) completed by knowledgeable (n=119) and less-knowledgeable (n=91) student sample groups delivered 74 items after its item analysis across the two content domains, namely fruit and vegetables (n=49) and fats and oils (n=25). The test was found valid, with a significant difference (p < 0.001) in the knowledge scores between the two sample groups (Mann-Whitney test, z = 9.74) and highly reliable (KR20 and Cronbach's alpha= 0.934). Conclusions: The test being a valid and reliable assessment tool can be used to determine the food knowledge of first-year students at a UOT in the Western Cape, SA, across the two content domains to establish if guidance and possible teaching is necessary to equip them with basic food knowledge to support them in their food provision. / Cape Peninsula University of Technology

The purpose of this study was to extend our current knowledge about what happens in physical science classrooms. The focus was the context of problem tasks. This involved the study of the situations, events and factors that relate to the solving of problem tasks at high school in order to understand their role and nature. e problem tasks that were central to this study were well defined, narrow in focus, and invariably involved the calculation of some quantity through the use of a formula and algebraic manipulation. The main questions that guided the study were as follows: What is happening in physical science classrooms? What is the nature and role of problem solving within this context? What are some of the consequences of organising teaching and learning in this manner? How do external forces influence what happens? The study aimed at describing the activities that the teachers and students were involved in and understanding how they understood their own actions. An interpretive research approach was chosen for this purpose, having as its basis a detailed descriptive foundation using classroom observation. Two high school science classrooms were studied in detail over a period of a year. The data gathered included field notes from over a hundred classroom visits, extensive video and audio records, questionnaires, classroom documents and formal an informal interviews with teachers, students and examiners. Through a process of careful and systematic analysis of the data, six assertions emerged. These assertions are supported by both particular evidence in the form of analytic narrative vignettes, quotes and extracts, and general evidence consisting of frequency data and summary tables. The analysis reveals that problem tasks occupied most of the teaching and learning time, and that the students found this experience of school science boring. Most of the problem tasks were routine in nature and of low conceptual demand. The majority of the students were unable to solve the more difficult tasks encountered in their tests and examinations. In addition, a significant number could not solve the routine problem tasks. This suggests that the predominant instructional strategies were ineffective. It was found that participants had an uncritical belief in the efficacy of teacher explanations and student practice on problem tasks. Further, the participants had different views of the role of problem tasks. A significant finding was that the examination exerted a powerful focusing influence on the classroom environment, the instructional activities and on the problem tasks used . It appeared that the ultimate goal of school physical science was to solve these types of problem task in preparation for the high stakes examination, rather than the learning of science. The study has implications both for practice and for research on the teaching and learning of school physical science. These implications are discussed in terms of instructional strategies aimed at promoting a deeper understanding of physical science. In order to improve practice it is advocated that the role of problem tasks in learning science be made explicit while at the same time new types of instructional task need to be designed to achieve our goals for school science. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

This study explores how subjectivities and emotionality of teachers are inextricably linked with their teaching praxis in the spaces of the HIV and AIDS classroom. A post-structuralist perspective and narrative approach are adopted. The landscape of HIV and AIDS education forms the backdrop or overarching rationale for this study. Despite conflicting debates around the role of teachers and schools in HIV and AIDS education, this study aimed to explore the complexities and challenges facing teachers in mitigating HIV and AIDS education. The broad question this study aimed to explore is: How do teachers’ life experiences, subjectivities and emotionality influence their teaching about HIV and AIDS education? Data was gathered from timelines, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, scenario analysis and critical lessons from five teachers. A purposeful sample of five teachers, who volunteered and were teaching HIV and AIDS education, was selected from three primary schools in a Midlands town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The contexts of the schools ranged from rural, semi-rural to urban. Foucauldian concepts of technologies of power/knowledge, technologies of the self and ethics of care were employed to analyse teachers’ subjectivities. Hargreaves theory of the emotional practice of teaching and Zembylas’s genealogies of emotions served as the analytical framework to make sense of emotionality of teachers. The co-constructed narratives of teachers were analysed using holistic content narrative analysis which uncovered seven clusters of meaning: diverse lives, multiple subjectivities; subjectivities and teaching; HIV and AIDS knowledge and teaching; spatial dynamics; relationships; emotions and feelings and cultural complexities. A key insight of this study is that teachers constituted multiple, dynamic and conflicting subjectivities. ‘Compassionate’, ‘supportive’ and ‘knowledgeable’ subjectivities were identified. Teachers enacted these multiple subjectivities drawing on their personal and professional experiences, HIV and AIDS knowledge and community and department of education support. Significantly, teachers resisted tensions and negotiated conflicting subjectivities to create critical reflective or labyrinthine spaces within their classrooms. I argue that spatial dynamics and teachers’ spatial praxis emphasise how power, HIV and AIDS knowledge, subjectivities and space are inextricably linked. Further analysis of teachers’ narratives highlighted discourses of responsibility, expertise, collaboration and sexuality. Most importantly, this study emphasises the complex and critical role of teachers in mediating HIV and AIDS education. A further insight is that teachers experience both positive and negative emotions when teaching about HIV and AIDS education, highlighting teaching as an emotional practice. Patterns of closeness in socio-cultural, moral and political emotional geographies and patterns of distance in professional and physical emotional geographies were displayed in teachers’ relationships. I argue that teachers negotiate their emotions and subjectivities when teaching about HIV and AIDS drawing on technologies of emotion. Of significance, cultural and religious myths as well as stigma and discrimination presented major challenges which teachers had to address. Key findings were categorised as: conflicting subjectivities and resistance; spatial praxis in labyrinthine spaces; technologies of emotion and demystifying cultural and religious myths.The implications of these findings are crucial for policy makers, teacher educators and teachers when implementing curricular and pedagogic changes in the complex spaces of the HIV and AIDS classroom. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014.

This qualitative study focused on a Technology Education programme for farm school teachers in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. These teachers were faced with the challenge of incorporating Technology Education into their curriculum. The study was conducted within the context of an investigation into the conceptual nature of technology and an exploration of the theoretical underpinnings of Technology Education within both the international and South African context. Technology Education is being introduced into the South African curriculum against a background of educational transformation and the building of capacity to solve real life problems. This calls for a curriculum that will empower learners to be innovative, creative and skilled problem solvers. The introduction and incorporation of Technoiogy Education into the school curriculum poses a formidable challenge to farm schools in particular. Their unique history of neglect and legacy of underqualified teachers has made the introduction of any curriculum innovation process very difficult and challenging. This study analyses how an introductory Technology Education programme for farm school teachers in the Winterberg area of the Eastern Cape impacted~ on the teachers' professional and personal lives. It shows the importance of developing teclpological skills in conjunction with life skills in cO.ntributing to the empowerment, both in the work place and in the wider context, of rural school teachers. It highlights the need for supportive in-service education programmes and strengthens the argument for an integrative and mulitidisciplinary approach to the introduction of Technology Education in farm schools. Data was collected by means of questionnaires, interviews and photographs.

The research was concerned with perceptions of language and physics in three strata of participants in a writing across the curriculum teaching course at an intermediate college. The participants were: a language teacher, two physics teachers and a class of twenty physics students - the students were studying in order to enter the Engineering Faculty at the University of Cape Town. The predominant understanding of the teachers was that of a limited interpenetration between the discourse of physics and language teaching. Physics teachers thought that language teachers would experience difficulties with both the concepts and language of physics. In actual practice however, students and the language teacher managed physics knowledge with some degree of success in the language classroom. Some students understood writing as helping them to understand physics. However, the dominant understanding of language was that of knowing the appropriate language of physics for their teachers. An appropriate language understanding was seen as potentially problematic in that it could encourage an unquestioning or monodimensional approach to physics knowledge. As a way around this problem, it was suggested that language teachers teach students to recognise and to use particular genres within science, and to develop their voice within these constraints.