The aim of the research was to document as fully as possible the programmes and practices in Indian secondary schools in the Republic of South Africa for the induction of beginning teachers. Teacher education is viewed as a career-long professional continuum and induction as the transition between graduation from a pre-service teacher education institution to the onset of in-service education. Induction is viewed as an important stage in the prolonged period of professional development. The method of research was, initially, to make a study of induction programmes in England, Australia and the United States of America. The concept adopted to guide questionnaire compilation and item writing was that prospective teachers had acquired knowledge, skills, attitudes and values in anticipation of their professional performance during the pre-service period. The premise was that those acquired ideas and skills will become active only in so far as the new situation allowed, demanded and encouraged the beginning teacher. The major findings that emerge from the study are that induction activities assume varied forms and that the integration and orientation of beginning teacher into the teaching profession depend very much on the nature of the schools and the willingness and co-operation of the principal and certain members of his established staff. There is no well defined system for the orientation of beginning teachers into the profession. The underlying problem was found to be the absence of a philosophy and policy for induction by the Department of Education and Culture (House of Delegates). The study concludes with several recommendations to the Department of Education and Culture (House of Delegates) the most important being: the formulation of a policy by the Department based on a well defined philosophy for induction; implementation of programmes arising from the policy in the form of school based induction activities, external support programmes by the teachers' centres, subject advisers, tertiary institutions and the teachers' associations. The underlying conclusion of the study is that induction is a complex process but definitely not an opportunity to be missed. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, 1988.

The aim of the study was to assess the needs for teacher induction programme in Sebokeng schools. Induction of the beginning teachers is regarded by many scholars as an effective mechanism of human resources management and development. The relevant literature review attempted to legitimize the assertion ''that teachers don't perform maximally because they are not inducted" by providing sufficient logical and empirical support along the way. The instrumentation and how the respondents responded, further accentuates the fact that beginning teachers are exposed to the hit and miss syndrome. "An ineffective teacher can cause problems for many; while an effective teacher can be a goodwill ambassador ". The research therefore suggests that beginning teachers be helped to get off to a good start. "A good experience during the first year or two in the profession can build a foundation for a solid commitment to teaching. A bad experience can set the stage for a hasty exit from teaching ". Good teachers are scarce in the best of times, but they may become even harder to find in the years ahead. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1996.

This study was concerned with science teachers' professional development activities in KwaZulu-Natal and finding out their views on the effectiveness of those professional development activities. It intended also to highlight both science teachers' perceived needs for improving their existing skills and ways of helping them to best address those needs. A postal questionnaire was sent to science teachers and interviews were conducted and tape-recorded with in-service providers. These data collection tools aimed at answering the questions: Firstly, what professional development activities are science teachers in KwaZulu-Natal participating in? Secondly, what kinds of professional development activities are considered to be the most effective? Thirdly, what competencies are recognised as in need of professional development? Lastly, what in the view of teachers and providers are considered to be the most effective ways of improving these competencies? The data from both the postal questionnaire and interviews were coded, captured, analysed, and interpreted. Among the more significant findings were: (a) workshops were the professional development activity most attended by science teachers in the study closely followed by formal courses; (b) teachers considered formal courses that led to a degree or a diploma that helped them to improve professionally, as the most effective professional development activity while providers felt the quality of the development activity was more important than the type of activity; (c) teachers in the study considered the understanding of OBE and the new curriculum as their most pressing needs while providers saw the need for an improvement of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge; and (d) in the opinion of teachers, their daily practice would most likely be improved if equipped laboratories and libraries were made available. These findings should assist policy makers and in-service providers in terms of rethinking ways of providing professional development activities by taking into account science teachers' perceived needs and views about the best ways of meeting these needs. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

This dissertation examines the following key educational issues: the needs of rural teachers, the role of rural parents in education and the nature of support provided by non-governmental organisations. The literature on South African education, rural education and in-service education and training provides a theoretical framework for the evaluation of an education innovation which began in 1986 in KwaNgwanase, in the Ubombo Circuit of the KwaZulu Department of Education and Culture. The focus of the study is to show how an innovation can be adapted by rural teachers to suit their own specific needs. It is acknowledged that improving teacher support and school provision within a rural area in South Africa is only a small step in transforming an inadequate education context. It remains the role of the state to provide a meaningful system of education for all South Africans, but communities can, and should, play a role in deciding how this service can best be utilised. The study suggests that aspects of the innovation has potential for replicability in other rural areas and may provide a strategy to address the need for appropriate in-service education and training for rural teachers. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, 1992

Recent years have seen a move to enhanced focus upon the induction of school leaders. Initial induction programmes for school leaders tended to focus mainly on school principals. There is new found realization of the need to broaden the focus on school principals to include Heads of Department. This study explores the induction experiences of newly-promoted HoDs. The study used a qualitative approach using the interpretive paradigm. Three new HoDs reflected on their personal experiences of being inducted into the system through semistructured, face-to-face interviews. They were selected through the use of purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The participants narrated on how they were inducted by the Department of Education (DOE) as well as their respective school management teams within the Umlazi District. The findings reveal that both the DOE and schools offered formal induction programmes to new HoDs. All the new HoDs who participated in this study claimed to experience feeling of anxiety and stress. The DoE as well as the schools with which the participants are affiliated, showed that they valued the process of introducing novice HoDs by conducting such induction programmes soon after their appointment. All the new HoDs were inducted through forum of workshops held in the Umlazi District. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The main purpose of the study was to show the necessity of a classroom-based educator in-service support programme. Educators have unique problems being derived from the uniqueness of their school situations. Thus, the feeling that this kind of support could improve the quality of mathematics teaching and learning. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

This qualitative inquiry into Critical Friends Groups (CFGs) at Lower Canada College (LCC), a coeducational, bilingual, K-12, private, day school in suburban Montreal, focusses on the impact of CFGs on teachers' professional growth and classroom practices. Using interviews, focus groups, participant observations and a questionnaire, I examined the recursive cycle of professional growth and transformation, and rooted the inquiry within the theoretical frameworks of reflective practice, the dialogic imagination, social constructivist learning and critical theory. I conceptualize teachers' professional growth as the transformation of professional practices through the deepening knowledge and expertise that arises out of collaborative inquiry and collegial dialogue. The major assumption supported by this study is that teachers learn from one another through engaging in ongoing and site-based critical dialogue focussed on classroom practices. This inquiry has implications for professional development programmes, school leadership and teacher empowerment.

Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to document the three-year journey of 16 effective teachers in an elementary science, inservice project in order to gain understanding of factors which influence the development of investigative science teaching skills and commitment. The need for this study arises from the paucity of elementary teachers able to teach science in a fashion advocated by national science groups, and from the difficulty of bringing about lasting, widespread changes in science teaching. A triangulation was accomplished by examining Stages of Concern statements, teacher portfolios, and Levels of Use of the Innovation interviews.The findings underline the length of time and the intensity of involvement associated with full acceptance of investigative science teaching by this sample of teachers. There was a progression in Stages of Concern from self, to management of the science setting, to student effects, to helping other teachers.Analysis of "best selection" portfolios by trained raters, using analytic/holistic rubrics, showed that by the end of the second year the teachers were proficient in their ability to: guide students in the use of process skills to investigate concepts; conduct student assessments; design age-appropriate lessons; allow time for concept understanding; and, uncover, rather than "cover," topics. In spite of this proficiency, the teachers continued to have concerns about management and student achievement with each new unit.By the end of year two, teachers were still teaching some units exactly as presented in the workshop, but many teachers were also starting to make modifications which, for some, led to integration across disciplines. It was not until the end of the second year that 56 percent of the teachers expressed the need to share their expertise. And, it was not until the end of the third year that 43 percent of the teachers were most concerned about sharing with other teachers. Coincidentally, the Levels of Use of the Innovation interview at this time revealed that teachers were involved in a variety of strategies for helping colleagues improve their science teaching. The interviews also identified the solidification of social/professional relationships that evolved during the project. / Department of Biology

The purpose of the study was to determine if the language of the negotiated agreements of Indiana School Corporations was reflected in professional growth and staff development activities. Collective bargaining agreements during 1982-1983 and 1988-1989 from 289 Indiana School Corporations were compared to identify the existence, if any, of (a) a trend in the acknowledgement of professional growth and staff development-related statements found in the contracts, and (b) policy statements delineating how staff development activities and curriculum-related activities were to be conducted in schools. Contract language in which comparisons appeared to be significant were subjected to the Friedman Two-way Analysis of Variance (Friedman ANOVA) to determine whether or not comparisons were statistically significant at the .05 level. Such statistically significant comparisons also helped to determine whether or not school corporations incorporated contract language, which gave instructional staff a legal position in decisions which affected teacher professional growth and participation in curriculum-related matters.Conclusions1. Compared to small enrollment Indiana School Corporations (3,000 students or less), large enrollment Indiana School Corporations (3,001 or more students) were more likely than statistically expected to provide salary compensation for higher levels of teacher education training and sabbatical leave compensation at statistically significant levels of .05 or less, based upon use of the chi-square statistic.2. The research findings failed to support movement toward greater Indiana School Corporation contract language in 1982-1983 and 1988-1989 in most of the specified staff development factors under investigation in the research. Therefore, contrary to the literature which claimed that collective bargaining would be used as a vehicle for staff development change, collective bargaining has not provided structural support for such change among Indiana School Corporations. / Department of Educational Leadership

This study investigated the relationship of the elements of professional development and the attitudes of teachers and principals toward inclusion. Participants in the study were the teachers and principals in Indiana schools designated as "Inclusion Schools" by the Indiana State Legislature in the summer of 1992. Thirty-one schools of the 50 designated schools were approved for data collection. Three hundred ninety teachers and 31 principals responded to the survey instrument.The dependent variables were the attitudes of the participants toward the inclusion process and the concept of inclusion. The independent variables were six characteristics of professional development: design, presenters, location, attendance requirement, when professional development occurred, and how much professional development was received. Additional independent variables were demographic information such as: age, experience, level of education, and if special education classes had been taken at the university.The conclusions of this study for teachers found positive relationships with the dependent variables for inclusion professional development characteristics: design by building based decision making, presentations by special education administrators and staff, the location in the home school, voluntary attendance, and the more professional development the more positive the teachers' attitudes. A negative relationship was found when professional development occurred before inclusion began. The age and experience of the teachers had a negative relationship to positive attitudes toward inclusion.The only positive relationship between the principals' attitudes toward inclusion and professional development found that attitudes were more positive when more professional development was attended. They were positive when the professional development took place before inclusion began. Other findings reflected negative relationships with inclusion professional development characteristics for: location, design, presenters, and attendance requirement. The more inclusion aide support the principals had, the more positive were their attitudes toward inclusion.The teacher findings in this study were supported by literature and prior research findings by the NASBE Study (1992), Miller & Lieberman (1988), Brehm's Reactance Theory (1983-84), and Pearman et. al. (1992).The principal findings were not conclusive and further study should be made to find how inclusion professional development can develop positive principals' attitudes toward inclusion. / Department of Educational Administration and Supervision