A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University Of Zululand, 2018 / The rapid increase in HIV/AIDS infections and its effects in families and communities are vast. Around the world, young people are at the centre of the HIV epidemic. They are at high risk for HIV/AIDS infection and are, therefore, in need of targeted interventions. As a result, South African Government has established HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program to be implemented in schools by educators. The purpose of this study is to explore educators ‘attitudes towards this HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program for high school learners in Zululand District. The study seeks to explore how educators in high schools view schools as centres of care and support for learners infected and affected by HIV/AIDS; and also explore their beliefs about HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program being implemented in schools by educators; as well as factors that affect the effective implementation of the program. The results of this study should contribute to the research in the area of Sexuality Education in schools and influence the design and the implementation of HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program in high schools. The structured interviews with ten educators from ten high schools in Zululand District, comprising of five females and five males Life Orientation educators were conducted. The results reveal that the educators have positive attitudes towards HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program. However, they believe that the implementation of the program does not form part of their responsibility as educators due to lack of expertise, time, and support from school management and parents. The study also found that factors such as lack of effective training, lack of support from school management, lack of parental involvement, as well as confidentiality, hinders the effective implementation of HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program.

The focus of this qualitative study is the professional environment where post-school transitions take place. It seeks to identify some possible means for improving outcomes for young people with low educational achievement, dyslexia, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties as they move on from school. The study picks up a recommendation made by Ward and Thomson (1997), following their Scotland-wide survey, that further investigation is needed into post-school transitions of such ‘unrecorded’ young people. Taking ahead this task brings together different areas of knowledge, for example, inclusive education, youth transitions and social theory. To orient the research, initial data were gathered through a questionnaire completed by 14 educational professionals and in structured interviews with 16 youngsters, mostly recently enrolled at college, and their families. Ideas occurring here were then used to inform the main data gathering process. This was conducted in 17 semi-structured audio-recorded interviews, each approximately one hour’s duration, with school teachers, college lecturers and other professionals associated with transition. The methodology utilised a critical friends group to shape the research as it progressed. The thematic analysis of the data produced information about dissimilar models of transition support, varying constructions of young people and difficulties in partnership working. The ensuing discussion considered the roles of trusted signals of youth’s value, of careership based on transformations of identity and aspects of social capital on transitions of young people with additional support needs. The conclusion sets out areas for improvement and asks that greater consideration be given to the constraining factors within the professional environment of the post-school transitions of young people with additional support needs.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Inclusive education (IE) is an international movement and South Africa is in the process of developing systems to support the process. The aim of this study was to develop narratives of teachers’ trajectories of collaboration in developing IE. The Department of Education acknowledged that collaboration between teachers and other professionals and between teachers and parents and the community at large is a critical strategy and skill for developing IE successfully (Department of Education, 2001). This study was conducted at a full-service school in the Western Cape Province which was selected purposively. Snowball sampling was used to select six teachers who were interviewed and observed in their collaborative spaces. This study used a qualitative approach and a case-study approach as a research design. It used Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as the theoretical framework to understand how teachers respond to the diverse needs of all learners and how they collaborate with others in developing more responsive pedagogies. Multiple methods of data analysis, such as thematic analysis and CHAT, were used to analyze data collected. The study revealed that teachers collaborated in school-initiated collaboration practices as well as in Department owned collaboration practices. Teachers reported to have voluntarily participated in school-initiated collaboration practices as their school had a culture of sharing knowledge and skills and this enabled them to work closely with each other, whereas in Department owned collaboration practices teacher reported that they participated because they had to obey instructions from their employee. Teachers felt that the Department owned collaboration practices used top-down approaches which hindered some of their collaboration practices. Teachers reported to have encountered some benefits from as well as barriers to collaboration. This study concludes that if collaboration is a critical strategy for the successful implementation of IE in South Africa, the Department of Education (DoE) should give schools an opportunity to indicate their areas of need so that they can be trained accordingly. Secondly, the DoE should continuously provide training for teachers on collaboration. Lastly, the DoE and the school should encourage and monitor teachers to continue to create environments where they work collaboratively in decision-making and problem-solving.

This thesis deals with the concept of inclusive education in primary schools. The aim of this thesis is to find out what positives and negatives teachers see in inclusive concept of basic education, and what recommendations could help the functioning of the inclusive education process. The work is divided into a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part focuses on the process of inclusion and inclusive education, including a description of concepts, principles and manifestations. In the theoretical part, an inclusive school environment, including actors of an inclusive process is also approached. The basis for the practical part is the survey, which aims at finding the attitudes, opinions and suggestions of primary school teachers on the issue. The results of the research show that the current concept of inclusive education is misunderstood by most teachers and, unfortunately, most of them disagree with this concept. They see the risk of burden not only for children and teachers, but ultimately also for the entire school system, which may lose its quality. In spite of this, they find certain benefits in inclusive education, mostly in the fact that children can learn mutual motivation, cooperation, necessary social skills, and try to perceive and respect differences, which will help...

The diploma thesis "The possibilities of school social work in tertiary education in the Czech Republic" analyses the possibilities of introducing the profession of a social worker into the Czech university education system. The first part of the thesis is focused on presenting general issues of school social work. Moreover, the development of school social work in the Czech Republic is described and compared to the experience in other countries where school social work has a long tradition. The second part is dedicated to the specifics of university environment, its problems and its potential. The differences between the client target groups in secondary and tertiary education are explained. The last section of the thesis defines the roles and competences of school social workers at universities. The definition of a university social worker is created with regard to the worker's activities and specialization. Keywords: Social work; school social work; university education; role of school social worker; system of university support

Given the many school choices available to parents, there is a need to understand the reasons parents of a child who is gifted choose to keep their child in his/her current school. Parents* satisfaction with their child*s school and their academic growth is essential to continued enrollment of the child in that school (Abdulkadiroglu, Angrist, & Pathak, 2011; Van Tassel-Baska, 2006). The parents* decision to keep their child who is gifted enrolled in their current school may be influenced by factors within the school as well as those factors outside of the school. The purpose of this study was to research factors that may influence the parents* decision to keep their child who is gifted enrolled in their current school. The research studied parental perceptions of academic support, social and emotional support, and principal support for gifted education for their child who is gifted and the parents* willingness to keep their child who is gifted enrolled at their current school. The target group in the study was parents of children who are gifted and enrolled in a very large urban school district but did not include parents of children who are gifted and also have a disability. The research included the analysis of a survey and follow-up interview questions with parents of a child who is gifted and enrolled in the very large urban school district. There were 683 survey responses out of 4,401 total parents surveyed with a return rate of 16%. The low return rate is considered a limitation of the study and it is recommended to conduct additional research on the majority of parents who did not participate in the survey. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected parents of children who are gifted and enrolled in the very large urban school district. The survey and interview data was coded and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics. There were two research questions that guided the development of the research process and the analysis of data. The first question focused on indicators of parent satisfaction that included academic needs met, social and emotional needs met, and principal support for gifted education. The survey and interview data yielded mixed results with parents split between the belief that their child*s academic needs were met, social and emotional needs were met, and that their child*s principal was supportive of gifted education. The second research question considered the relationship between the three indicators of parent satisfaction and the parents* willingness to consider enrolling their child in a school solely for students who are gifted. The results showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the parents* belief that their child*s academic needs were met and the parents* consideration to send their child to a school solely for students who are gifted. However, there was a lack of evidence to establish a relationship between parent*s belief about their child*s social and emotional needs or the parents belief that their child*s principal was supportive of gifted education. The implications of the study are numerous. There are enough parents willing to consider sending their child to a school solely for students who are gifted to support opening the school. The majority of the survey participants had elementary school children; therefore, consideration should be focused on opening an elementary school for students who are gifted. Long range planning is needed to determine how to support the school for students who are gifted as well as the impact of transferring the students from one school zone to the school for students who are gifted. The literature reflected the diverse nature of the parents* satisfaction with academic support, social and emotional support, and principal support for gifted education and revealed that when the parents* are satisfied it does not guarantee that the parent will keep their child enrolled in their current school. The need for on-going communication between the school and the parents are critical to keeping the student enrolled in their current school. Further research is needed to determine the beliefs of parents with children who are gifted and identify themselves as Black, Hispanic, Asian, or another race since the majority of the survey participants were White. More research is also needed to determine the reasons why large numbers of parents would consider sending their child to a school solely for students who are gifted regardless of their satisfaction levels with school support. In addition, further research needs to be conducted to determine why parents would choose to keep their child enrolled in their current school when the parents believed their academic or social and emotional needs were not met or their principal was not supportive of gifted education.

. This investigation focuses on the leadership role of the principal in managing and supporting curriculum change in South African schools. The results reveal that principals are required to initiate change and to lead the curriculum change process in schools. Principals are expected to monitor, manage and evaluate the implementation of OBE in their schools. They also need to provide ongoing support to colleagues and are further required to acquire and employ skills, qualities, characteristics and a management style that is suitable for the OBE leader. This investigation recommends that for principals to manage and support curriculum change effectively in South African schools: • Principals are in need of more training and ongoing support • Commitment and support to the outcomes based curriculum is called for • Skills and qualities, for effective leadership, needs to be acquired and employed • A strategy to manage, monitor, support and evaluate curriculum implementation in the school is needed. / Educational Leadership and Management / M.Ed. (Educational Management)

The diploma thesis contains in the theoretical part a discussion about the importance of education of pupils with moderate mental disabilities, defines persons with mental disabilities, presents their characteristic peculiarities in relation to their education at the level of secondary education. It describes the Framework Educational Programs for practical schools with one- year and two-year training. The exploratory part focuses on monitoring secondary education of pupils in practical schools in the Central Bohemian Region. The main aim of the survey was to find out the possibilities of employment of graduates of practical schools after graduation.

. This investigation focuses on the leadership role of the principal in managing and supporting curriculum change in South African schools. The results reveal that principals are required to initiate change and to lead the curriculum change process in schools. Principals are expected to monitor, manage and evaluate the implementation of OBE in their schools. They also need to provide ongoing support to colleagues and are further required to acquire and employ skills, qualities, characteristics and a management style that is suitable for the OBE leader. This investigation recommends that for principals to manage and support curriculum change effectively in South African schools: • Principals are in need of more training and ongoing support • Commitment and support to the outcomes based curriculum is called for • Skills and qualities, for effective leadership, needs to be acquired and employed • A strategy to manage, monitor, support and evaluate curriculum implementation in the school is needed. / Educational Leadership and Management / M.Ed. (Educational Management)