This study sets out to explore the perceptions of life orientation teachers of child sexual abuse (CSA) in primary schools. Teachers in this study consist of a selection of Life Orientation teachers who are normally involved in the management of CSA. Child sexual abuse is a widespread problem in schools not only in South Africa, but internationally. The topic is relevant today because child sexual abuse has many negative, physical, emotional, psychological and educational consequences. One of the most significant problems children face today is the threat of sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse is a global phenomenon that is regarded as one of the greatest social problems of the 21st century. Learners are at risk of sexual abuse by teachers, scholar patrollers, family members and community members. Child sexual abuse in schools is defined by the study as the unwelcome contact or non-contact sexual behaviour on a learner. There is a perception that most victims of child sexual abuse are young children and do not report sexual abuse because they are afraid to expose their perpetrators. The study will benefit children in primary schools at informal settlements and in Gauteng East because learners will be equipped with information that child sexual abuse is against their rights and perpetrators must be reported without fear. Most child sexual abuse is not reported; detected or prosecuted hence as a priority we must identify and protect children who are being sexually abused or are at risk of sexual abuse. My choice of qualitative approach was influenced by the work I am doing presently at school. The researcher used pseudonyms not actual names when describing schools’ names. I am working as a teacher at a Primary School in Slovo-Park, Springs, in Gauteng East, Gauteng Province. In this study, the design and methods on perceptions of selected stakeholders on child sexual abuse are discussed. The study explains why the explorative qualitative research design and interpretative paradigm were adopted to assess the perceptions of the participants on child sexual abuse. The researcher explains the interview technique as a data gathering tool used. In addition, the description of the ethical considerations that guided the researcher during data collection from the participants is described. The study focused on a small number of 9 Life Orientation teachers in order to provide in-depth, detailed information about perceptions of sexual abuse in schools. In this study the researcher used Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system’s model. These systems are; (1) The Microsystem; (2) The Mesosystem; (3) Exosystem ;( 4) The Macro system; (5) Chronosystem. These interrelated contexts as well as the individual setting can therefore be used to form an understanding of the contexts and settings involved in forming the perceptions of Life Orientation teachers. The researcher used purposive sampling to select both schools and participants. In addition, from each school three (3) Life Orientation teachers were selected making a total of 9 participants from the schools. Data was collected from 9 participants, namely 9 Life Orientation teachers selected purposefully because these teachers are mainly involved in life skills and Life Orientation and were trained in the area and they have continuous contact and knowledge of learners who may be at risk of child sexual abuse. Findings indicate that child sexual abuse impacts negatively on the emotional health, physical health, and academic achievement of the abused learner. / Educational Foundations / M. Ed. (Socio-Education)

Thesis (M. Ed. (Education)) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2014 / The goal of the education system is to increase cognitive capacity, competencies and skills such as acquiring new knowledge, recalling facts and figures and applying this information to reasoning, understanding and solving problems. To achieve all these competencies teachers and lecturers traditionally use Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains. The competencies and skills as described by Bloom are measured by standardised intelligence tests. Society takes it for granted that the higher a person’s IQ (Intelligence quotient), the better he/she will perform at school level. But what happens after school? While cognitive intelligence may be able to predict quite accurately how one will perform at school, it predicts very little else in the way of social performance and interaction after school. As such, IQ is a rather weak predictor of performance in interpersonal relations, at work and in coping with a wide variety of challenges that surface in the course of one's life on a daily basis (Wagner, 1997). Some writers makes a strong case that people owe their success in their professional careers to much more than mere IQ. Wagner reviews data and offers convincing cases to show that an IQ above 110, fails as an accurate predictor of success in a career. In other words, you need to be smart enough to handle the cognitive complexity of the information you need for a given role or job, be it engineering, law, medicine, or business. But after reaching this threshold of “smart enough,” your intellect makes little difference. Wagner concludes that IQ alone predicts just 6 to 10 percent of career success. It has been argued for over a century, as early as Charles Darwin that something is missing from the human performance formula that is needed to explain why some people do very well in life while others do not, irrespective of how cognitively intelligent they may be. One of the first attempts by psychologists to identify additional predictors of performance in other aspects of life was made by Edward Thorndike (1920) when he described "social intelligence" as the ability to perceive one's own and others' internal states, motives and behaviours, and to act towards them appropriately on the basis of that information. Mayer, Salovey and Caruso (2000:273) state that emotional intelligence includes “the ability to perceive, appraise and express emotion accurately and adaptively; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; the ability to access and generate feelings where they facilitate cognitive activities and adaptive action; and the ability to regulate emotions in oneself and others”. All of these skills are necessary for the teacher to function successfully in the classroom. The question is: does the modern teacher have the necessary EI skills? This dissertation explores and describes the level of Emotional Intelligence of the first year student teachers at the Central University of Technology, Free State. Seventy-nine (79) students were tested during 2012 and 2013 to establish whether they have the necessary levels of Emotional Intelligence to ensure that they will be able to become good classroom leaders upon entering the teacher’s profession. Traits of Emotional Intelligence were assessed by means of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue). The study investigates the Emotional Intelligence attributes and skills that a teacher will need to become a good classroom leader. The study examines the four main areas tested in the TEIQue, namely the well-being, the emotionality, the sociability and the self-control of the student teacher. Findings suggest that the student teachers still need to develop their emotional intelligence as their results fall in the lower level of the acceptable range.

Thesis (Phd. (Education )) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2015 / For learners to be effective computer applications users, they need three basic skills – computer literacy, computer fluency and intellectual and reasoning skills to apply computational techniques or computer applications to the problems and projects in a field. Computational thinking as addressed in the first literature chapter is the description and the promotion of new ways of thinking in an increasingly digital age. A computational thinker must constantly engage in technology advancements. Computational thinking is a way of solving problems and is a cognitive or a thinking process. To flourish in the world of work, computational thinking has to be a fundamental part of the way learners think and understand the world. It describes the mental activity in formulating a problem to allow a computational solution. The solution can be carried out by the learner or the computer or a combination of learner and computers. Problem-solving competency as addressed in the next literature chapter involves the ability to acquire and use new knowledge, or to use old knowledge in a new way to solve problems that are not routine. Problem-solving as a skill involves a range of processes that includes analysing, interpreting, reasoning, predicting, evaluating and reflecting. Learners need profound Computer Applications Technology (CAT) knowledge and a general reasoning ability as well as investigative strategies for solving ill-defined problems. To address the research questions, the researcher employed the QUAN-QUAL design in this study. In this study the quantitative method was used to gather data relating to the education of teachers, in-service training received and answers to certain computational thinking skills and problem-solving skills. It was also used to test the relationship between problem solving and computational thinking skills. A Likert-scale type questionnaire was completed by 150 CAT teachers. In addition, this study also employed the qualitative method with semi-structured interviews to gather data relating Abstract vi to problem solving and computational thinking skills. Eight CAT teachers were interviewed to ascertain the afore-mentioned. A pilot study was conducted with the aim to test the research approach and to identify potential problems that may affect the quality and validity of the results. The wording of some questions in the questionnaire was altered to ensure that the instrument measures what it is supposed to. Descriptive statistics in this study was used to describe the findings and the inferential statistics used to test the hypotheses and draw conclusions from the quantitative statistics. For qualitative data, thematic analysis was used to analyse the original data obtained from the semi-structured interviews. To promote critical thinking skills, teachers must engage learners in higher-order thinking. Findings show that teachers do not always use classroom practices that encourage critical thinking. It was encouraging that the majority of teachers do allow group work in the CAT classroom, as group work is an important facet in computational thinking and problem solving. The study culminates in a computational thinking and problem-solving toolkit developed by the researcher. This toolkit is intended primarily for facilitators (such as CAT subject advisors or CAT mentor teachers) to enable them to conduct workshops for fellow CAT teachers. By using this toolkit, teachers will gain an understanding of what computational thinking skills and problem-solving skills are and how to develop these skills in Grades 10 – 12 CAT learners.

A CPD model for the University of Technology lecturers is designed in this study. The focus of the CPD model is on teaching as a predominant feature of the Lecturers‟ functions. Literature review on the nature, historic developments and the mandate of former Technikons in South Africa is conducted. A comparative analysis of University of Technology education systems in five other countries is conducted. Research was then conducted to establish the status of Lecturers‟ CPD in former Technikons. Data obtained from literature and the research project was used to design a CPD model for University of Technology Lecturers. Interviews were subsequently conducted with CPD practitioners in Universities of Technology to obtain opinions on the model. A survey was conducted to obtain Lecturers‟ opinions on the aspects of the model. Data obtained was then used to modify the model. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Educational Management)

Inclusion of learners with diverse needs implies a shift from a medical deficit model to a social systems model. The latter does not view the learner as a problem; instead it considers the environment or society’s response to the individual as barriers to learning. This study focuses on collaborative co-teaching as a key to inclusion. Collaborative co-teaching requires the learning support teacher and the general education teacher to partner in all aspects of instruction. The outcome of collaborative co-teaching includes effective instruction, a cohesive, accepting class community, positive learner development and the professional and personal growth of the learning support teacher and the general education teacher. A literature review provided the background to an empirical inquiry using a qualitative approach. Data was collected from a small sample by interviews, observations and documents and inductively analysed. Recommendations for the improvement of practice were made based on the findings. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

The aim of this study was to determine how teachers experienced transformation in education and what the implications were for education management. The approach was qualitative, exploratory and descriptive. In a case study design six redeployed teachers from an ex-model C school were purposefully selected as sample. In-depth interviews were conducted with the teachers. Informal interviews and observation were also used to collect data. The results focussed on the teachers‟ views of transformation and their experiences of transformation policy and how it was managed; the financial implications of transformation and the impact thereof on the teachers. It was concluded that individual teachers experienced some aspects of transformation positively, for example promotion opportunities. Negative experiences were related to transformation that was enforced overhastily and did not consider all role players or prepare teachers well. Recommendations were made for managing transformation and for further study. Key concepts: transformation; education management; case study design; redeployed teachers; positive experiences of education transformation; negative experiences / Further Teacher Education / M. Ed. ((Onderwysbestuur) Further Teacher Education)

Educators play an essential role within the education system as role models. Many educators, in addition to being affected by learners living with HIV and AIDS, are themselves living with HIV and struggle to cope. SMTs have to play a role in the provision of psychosocial services. The purpose of this study was to explore the types of psychosocial services provided to ELWHIV by their SMTs in order to gain insight and understanding and to make suggestions on how psychosocial services can be improved. A qualitative study was undertaken in 2008. Fifteen interviews were conducted with ELWHIV and members of SMTs at four primary schools in Bela-Bela, Limpopo Province. The findings reveal that SMTs are failing to implement government policies and are not providing adequate support for ELWHIV. None of the participating schools had a functional AIDS policy. Support structures were found to be inadequate and ineffective. Disclosure was identified as one of the major obstacles to the provision of effective services. / Sociology / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

Dissertation / The aim of this study is to investigate teacher stress and to identify factors that contribute to the stress experienced by township secondary school teachers. Based on an extensive literature study, an inventory, the Teacher Stress Identification Test was developed. The inventory was completed by 368 teachers who live in townships and work in township secondary schools in the Free State. Information thus gained was analysed with the use of a statistical computer programme. It appears from the research that the inventory has both a high reliability coefficient and construct validity. The empirical research revealed that township secondary school teachers experience moderate to high levels of stress. It also gave a clear indication of the factors contributing to the stress experienced by these teachers, allowing the researcher to make several recommendations. Lastly, the manifestations of stress as well as the coping mechanisms of these teachers were briefly investigated. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Orthpedagogics)

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Die Bruinvrou in die onderwys het 'n besondere rol om te vertolk veral in die !ewe van die volwassewordende kind asook in die hele skoolopset. Die doel van hierdie ondersoek was om hierdie rol te bepaal. Tersaaklike gegewens is verkry deur middel van Iiteratuurstudie, die outobiografiese teks, onderhoude asook vraelyste. Deur die inligting bekom, is vasgestel dat die omstandighede waaronder 'n groot gedcelte van die Bruinonderwyseresse werk, nie altyd gunstig is nie. Baie Bruinlccrclcrs woon in sosio-ekonomiese agtergeblewe gebiede waar misdaad en bendebcdrywighedc aan die orde van die dag is. Waardestelsels, leefstyl van die subkultuur, onvoldoende materiele versorging en gebrekkige opvoeding veroorsaak steuringe in die leerders se ingesteldheid teenoor die skool. Haar vrouwees laat die onderwyseres baie empatie toon in haar opvoedingskommunikasie met die leerder. Sy poog om toereikend na sy behoeftes om te sicn. As medcganger help sy die leerder om elke mylpaal wat hy bereik, te beskou as die begin van 'n ander. Deur haar meelewendheid word veral die milieugestremde Bruinkind se menswaardigheid erken. Baie bruinleerders het aangedui dat onderwyseresse rolmodelle vir hulle is. Sommige onderwyseresse word verplig om jarelank dieselfde graad te onderrig. Aangesien hulle so 'n betekenisvolle rol in die volwassewording van die kind speel, is dit nodig dat hulle ervaring opdoen van die verskillende grade in die skool. Die vrou is baie veelsydig en het moontlikhede wat tocreikcnd aangewend kan word in al die fasette van die skoolopset. Sy kan '11 baie belangrike bydrae lewer in die organisasie en administrasie van die skool as sy die geleentheid gebied word. Haar ingesteldheid op die menslike en die belangrikheid van gesonde verhoudinge asook haar hoe pligsbesef dui daarop dat die onderwyseres by magte is om 'n uitstekende onderwysleier te wees. Nieteenstaande die feit dat onderwyseresse volgens statistieke oorverteenwoordig is in die onderwys, is hulle onderverteenwoordig in bestuursposte. Alhoewel die Grondwet van die Republiek van Suid Afrika 1996, gebaseer is op die beginsels van gelykheid en menswaardigheid, is seksisme en diskriminasie op grond van geslag nog steeds ernstige struikelblokke vir die onderwyseres op haar weg na beter vooruitsigte in die onderwys. Aanbevelings vir praktykverbetering asook verdere navorsing is gemaak. / The Coloured woman in education has a particular role to play, especially in the life of the child growing towards adulthood as well as in the school in general. The aim of this investigation is to determine that role. Relevant information had been obtained by means of literary sources, autobiographical texts, interviews and questionnaires. Having obtained this information, it was established that the circumstances in which a large proportion of Coloured female educators work, are not always favourable. Many coloured learners live in socio-economic disadvantaged areas where crime and gangsterism prevail. Value systems, lifestyles of the subculture, inadequate material care and a serious lack of education are causing disruptions of learners' inclination towards the school. Being a woman enables the female educator to show considerable empathy in her pedagogic communication with the learners. She endeavours to sufficiently provide in their needs. As pedagogic accompanist she assists the learner to see every milestone that he/she achieves as the basis for another. Her involvement brings about an acknowledgement of the human dignity of the milieu-deprived Coloured child. Many coloured learners have indicated that their female educators are their role models. Some female educators are compelled to teach the same grade for years. Their significant role merits experience of teaching the various grades at school. Women are very versatile and have potential which can be utilized adequately in all the facets of the school situation. They can make very important contributions towards the organisation and administration of the school as a whole, given the opportunity. Their focus on human nature and the importance of sound relationships as well as their high sense of duty are indicative of the ability female educators have to become excellent leaders in education. They are nevertheless under-represented in educational management positions. Although the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, is based on the principles of equality and human dignity, sexism is still a stumbling block in the path of female educators. Recommendations for an improvement m educational practice as well as further research were made. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Filosofie van die Opvoeding)