Issues of overcrowdedness in Eastern Cape schools have become very prominent in the media. The qualitative research in this study reiterates its existence and its implications for both learners and teachers. A need exists to curb the declining schooling standards. Large-scale in-service teacher training in an immediate joint effort by the Education Department and the school is necessary to address these serious issues. Classroom situations with low pupil:teacher ratios, classroom atmospheres conducive to teaching and learning, and an improved quality of education should be strived for. The effective attainment of the ideals of outcomes-based education requires improved teacher management and leadership to better disciplined classes. The treatment of any backlogs and inequalities evident in overcrowded classes should aim mainly at the upliftment of disadvantaged learners, who are still suffering under the effects of the previous education dispensation. Relevant recommendations and a suggested model to rectify the situation are proposed. / Oorbevolkingsvraagstukke in skole in die Oos-Kaap geniet aansienlike aandag in die media. Die kwalitatiewe navorsing van hierdie studie fokus op die voorkoms en implikasies daarvan vir beide die leerders en onderwysers. Daar bestaan 'n behoefte om dalende onderrigstandaarde te verbeter. Grootskaalse indiensopleiding vir onderwysers in 'n onmiddellike gesamentlike paging deur die Onderwysdepartement en die skoal is noodsaaklik om hierdie emstige probleem aan te spreek. Daar moet gestreef word na meer voordelige klaskameromstandighede met 'n laer leerder:onderwyserverhouding, 'n klaskameratmosfeer wat bevorderlik is vir onderrig en leer asook 'n verbeterde opvoedingskwalitiet. Die effektiewe verwesenliking van uitkomsgebaseerde onderrig verg verbeterde leerkrag beheer en leidinggewing aan beter gedissiplineerde klasse. Die behandeling van agterstande en ongelykhede wat in oorbevolkte klasse voorkom, moet daarop gemik wees om agtergeblewe leerders, wat nog onder die gevolge van die vorige onderwysbedeling ly, op te hef. Toepaslike aanbevelings en 'n voorgestelde model om die situasie reg te stel, word voorgele. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

This research is predicated in the firm conviction that the quality of education is dependent upon the quality of teachers. Teachers as the bedrock of education must participate actively and conscientiously in their intellectual growth through various forms of INSET discussed in the research. From an international comparative perspective DE as a strategy of INSET is deemed as the most functional, if not prudent and efficacious educational experience for the upgrading and improvement of the qualifications of teachers. In this research the origin of DE in terms of its antecedents and evolution, the raison d'etre and the advantages and limitations of DE are adumbrated in order to focus on the complexity and diversity of DE. As part of the conceptual and theoretical framework various terms used synonymously with DE are considered. A syntagma of principles providing a utilitarian and pragmatic connotation for DE is then postulated. Selected theories relevant to DE provide the synthesis for theoretical perspectives. The typology of DE institutions comprising autonomous, dedicated providers of DE and those that are mixed or hybrid or dual mode systems is analyzed. In koeping with the theme of educational borrowing fundamental to comparative education studies provision of DE by the UKOU and AU for developed countries, IGNOU and the ZINTEC model for developing countries is discussed. National examples are UNISA, Vista University and SACTE. The provincial institutions discussed are the former SCE, NCE, UCFE and the newly formed SACOL. General and specific recommendations for the provision of DE programmes for the upgrading and improvement of the qualifications of teachers in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal are adumbrated. By way of conclusion, it is iterated that the provision of DE for the upgrading and improvement of the qualifications of teachers is irrefragably xxvii the quintessential factor in the new generation of teacher education and a pivotal element for INSET. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

Curriculum 2005 together with its learning areas has been introduced in South Africa in 1998. All learning areas, except Technology Learning Area, are not new. Technology is growing so rapidly that it gives so many challenges to people. These challenges include making technology part of our curriculum, formulating and adapting technological solutions to problems people may experience. We have to ask ourselves what technology or Technology Education means. Therefore, this study provides the meaning and the rationale for Technology Education in our curriculum. This study also attempts to shed light on the form of training educators should attend for Technology Education. Although there are different methods of training, for example PRESET and INSET, this study concentrates on various forms of INSET. INSET is chosen because it is a means through which the present need for Technology Education educators can be solved. The percentage of educators involved in part-time study will increase in relation to the number in full-time education. The closing down of some of colleges of education in South Africa reduces the use of PRESET and increases INSET as a means of educator training. The advantages of using INSET instead of PRESET are provided in this study. The National Teacher Audit of 1995 has shown that the quality of INSET in South Africa is poor. In addition, it seems the present ad hoc way of running INSET will not cope with challenges of training educators for Curriculum 2005 and Technology Education. Normally, INSET is the prime strategy for addressing problems in PRESET. Unfortunately, INSET has to train educators for Technology Education (Technology Learning Area) which was never touched by PRESET before. For this reason, this study provides an INSET model, guidelines and recommendations to make the suggested model of INSET work successfully. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

This research is directed at the investigation of teacher education and the professional status of the teacher in the Northern Province. The literature study examined the essential characteristics of a profession and these were rephrased as criteria to evaluate to what. extent education . meets these criteria. Education is a profession although it does not fully meet the criteria of such traditional professions as law and medicine. A qualitative investigation was undertaken to determine how successfully teacher education is realised in the Northern Province. It was revealed that teacher education is not founded on a pedagogically justifiable theory. The status of the teacher is low. To redress this situation, continuous research and in-service education are recommended whereby the teachers' status and the standard of teacher education may be enhanced Culture needs recognition in the curricula that need to be changed to meet the demands of a changing society. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

The purpose of the study was to investigate individual professional development needs of teachers with the aim of developing guidelines that may assist foundation phase teachers to do individual needs analysis effectively. The main research question was: Which strategies can be used to conduct individual needs analysis effectively among the foundation phase teachers in order to improve their effectiveness? The researcher was guided by the interpretive paradigm which implies that participant’s interpretations, perceptions, meanings and understandings were regarded as primary sources. The qualitative research design was used to obtain participants’ primary data. Interviews and observations were used to collect data and to maximise trustworthiness of the findings. Purposive sampling was used to select key informants who were going to provide rich information to help achieve the objectives of the study. The researcher selected the sample of 10 foundation phase teachers, 5 principals and 5 Development Support Groups attached to primary schools under Imfolozi Circuit. Data analysis was done throughout data collection through open, axial and selective coding. The hierarchical category system illustrated in schematic representation representing the main theme and subthemes was used. The findings suggest that there is a serious gap regarding how individual professional development needs and provision of professional development are concerned. The focus was more on training teachers about the new curriculum leaving behind the individual needs of each teacher. The study identified some inconsistencies and lack of uniformity in the way needs analysis was currently done in schools. The major recommendation of this study is that needs analysis should be integrated within all school activities instead of once a year. There is a need for close monitoring of teacher development in order to improve the current learner performance in schools. The researcher believes the study will assist in understanding, informing and improving teaching practice. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

This is a study on the nature of learning, particularly the emergence of active learning processes in the case of an environmental education teacher professional development programme – the Eastern Cape Border-Kei cohort of the 2008 Schools and Sustainability Course. This was a part-time, one-year course supporting teachers to qualify, strengthen and deepen opportunities for environmental learning in the South African curriculum. An active learning framework (O’Donoghue, 2001) promoting teaching and learning with information, enquiry, action and reporting/reflection dimensions was integrated into the Schools and Sustainability course design to support these environmental learning opportunities. In this study, the notion of active learning is elaborated as a situated, action-oriented, deliberative and co-engaged approach to teaching and learning, and related to Bhaskar’s (1993) notion of transformative praxis. The study used a nested case study design, considering the case of six Foundation Phase teachers in six primary schools within the Border-Kei Schools and Sustainability cohort. Interviews, observations (of workshops and lesson plan implementation in classrooms) and document review of teacher portfolios (detailing course activities, lesson plans, learners’ work and learning and teaching support materials) were used to generate the bulk of the data. A critical realist theory underpinning the methodology enables a view of agency as emergent from social structures and mechanisms as elaborated in Archer’s (1998b) model of morphogenesis and Bhaskar’s (1993) model of four-planar being. The critical realist methodology also enables a view of emergent active learning processes as open-ended, responsive to particular potential, but dependent on contingencies (such as learning and teaching support materials, tools and methodologies). The analysis of emergent active learning processes focuses particularly on Bhaskar’s (1993) ontological-axiological chain (MELD schema) as a tool for analysing change. The MELD schema highlights1M ontological questions of what is (with emphasis on structures and generative mechanisms) and what could be (real, but non-actualised possibilities). It enables reflection on what mediating and interactive agential processes either reproduce what is or have the potential to transform what is to what could be (2E). Thirdly, the MELD schema enables reflection on what should be – this is the 3L “axiological moment” (Bhaskar, 1993: 9) where questions of values and ethics in relation to the holistic whole are raised. Finally, the schema raises questions (4D) of what can be, with ontologically grounded, context-sensitive and expressively veracious considerations. The study describes the agency of course tutors, teachers and learners involved in the Schools and Sustainability course, as emergent from a social-ecological context of poverty and inequality, and from an education system with a dual transformative and progressive intent (Taylor, 1999). It uses a spiral approach to cluster-based teacher professional development (Janse van Rensburg & Mhoney, 2000) focusing on the development of autonomous (Bernstein, 1990) and reflexive teachers. With teachers well-disposed and qualified to fill a variety of roles in the classroom, these generative structures and mechanisms had the power to drive active learning processes with potential for manifestation as transformative praxis. Through the analysis of the active learning processes emergent from this context, the study shows that the manifestation of transformative praxis was contingent on relational situated learning, value-based reflexive deliberations, and an action-orientation with an emphasis on an iterative relationship between learning and doing. These findings enable a reframing of an interest in action in response to environmental issue and risk, to an interest in the processes that led up to that action. This provides a nuanced vision of active learning that does not judge an educational process by its outcome. Instead, it can be judged by the depth of the insights into absences (2E), the ability to guide moral deliberations on totality (3L), and by the degree of reality congruence (1M) in the lead up to the development of transformative agency (4D). The study also has a methodological interest. It contributes to educational and social science research in that it applies dialectical critical realist philosophy to a concrete context of active learning enquiry in environmental education. It reports on the value of the onto-axiolgical chain in describing a diachronic, emergent and open-ended process; in providing ontological grounding for analysis (1M); in understanding relationality in situated learing processes (2E); in focusing on value-based reflexive learning (3L) and in understanding transformative learning as “tensed socio-spatialising process” (Bhaskar, 1993: 160) where society is emergent from a stratified ontology, and agency and change are open-ended and flexible processes not wholly determined by the social structures from which they emerge (4D). Considering the knowledge interests defined in the 2011 South African Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education (South Africa. Department of Higher Education and Training, 2011) and the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) which were implemented in South Africa from 2012 (in a phased approach), the study concludes with recommendations for exploring environmental learning in the CAPS. The study proposes working with a knowledge-focused curriculum focusing on the exploration and deepening of foundational environmental concepts, developing relational situated learning processes for meaningful local application of knowledge, supporting transformative praxis through the “unity of theory and practice in practice” (Bhaskar, 1993: 9), and implementing a spiral approach to cluster-based teacher professional development.

The research presented in this thesis is a case study analysis of the school-based intervention initiated by the David Rattray Foundation [DRF]. David Rattray, a South African historian well known for his contribution to the 1879-1896 Anglo-Zulu War heritage, was murdered in January 2007. In response to his untimely death, the DRF was established by family and friends with the hope of improving education within the Umzinyathi rural municipal district of KwaZulu-Natal. This study consisted of three phases: Phase I (May-December 2011); Phase II (January-December 2012), and Phase III (December 2012-October 2013). During Phase I, the focus was on describing the broader context in which the case is located. It resulted in a narrative account of the emergence of the DRF as a non-governmental organisation [NGO] working towards change within the local rural school community. During Phase II the focus shifted from the broader socio-political and economic context to the human dimension which included teachers, principals, volunteer workers and a district official working in the schools. During Phase II the approach to change adopted by the DRF was critically analysed in relation to models of change described in the literature. Teachers’ experiences of change were also examined. Phase III was a synthesis of the findings from the first two research phases. By drawing on systems and complexity theory perspectives, insights were gained enabling a deep understanding of the DRF’s school-based intervention as a whole. This research is a qualitative study that seeks to understand individual teachers’ experiences and participation in a process of change that reaches beyond the individual and his/her immediate context. The adoption of a realist ontology (Maxwell, 2012) and application of an explanatory heuristic based on the critical realist philosophy of Bhaskar (1979, 1980, 2011) enabled the layered analysis and in-depth interpretation that characterises the study. The findings of the study reveal a complex and ongoing process of change within a rural school context. The results illuminate the efficacy of a collaborative partnership between civil society (the DRF), the local community, under the leadership of a tribal authority, and the local government (KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Education). It also reveals how teachers within this particular context do not have a strong voice in the change process and hence participate only superficially in the school-based intervention. It is probable that the constraining mechanisms revealed through this research are not exclusive to this particular case study, but are common across the South African rural school context. The main contention of this thesis is that these mechanisms need further interrogation in order to enable further change and permit the active participation of teachers in the process.While the study illuminates many of the tensions and problems faced by the schools and the community in which they are located, it also highlights the achievements and selfless attitude of many people working towards change and improvement within the schools. This case study thus provides an example to all South Africans of what can be achieved with commitment and effort.

MEd (Curriculum Studies) / Department of Curriculum Studies / The purpose of this study was to investigate how continuing professional teacher development can improve learners’ achievement and schooling in Mathematical Literacy. This study adopted a qualitative research design. The qualitative research method was used to collect data. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The population comprised of all Mathematical Literacy teachers, heads of departments and principals of schools in the Soutpansberg North Circuit. Purposive sampling was used to the select participants. The sample consisted of 3 school principals, 3 heads of departments’ and 9 teachers. Data was analysed thematically. The study revealed that continuing professional teacher development improves learner achievement, teacher skills and knowledge. The study recommended that teachers should be supported by the community, schools and the department of Basic Education, in order to improve their knowledge, skills and learner achievement. In addition, Learners’ needs, engaging parents, assessment strategies and teacher practice were used to measure the impact of CPTD on learner achievement. Of equal importance, teachers should further their studies and engage themselves in reading materials relevant to their profession. / NRF

Abstract in English, Tswana and Northern Sotho / The study aimed to explore teachers’ mathematical knowledge in respect of teaching the concept of fractions to Grade 6 learners. To that end a qualitative study was done, using a case study design. Data were collected through the observation of, and interviews with, three teachers at three schools in the Capricorn South district. Rooted in the theory of constructivism, the study was supplemented by the conceptual framework of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) (Ball et al., 2008) and Shulman’s (1986) notion of pedagogical knowledge for teaching (PCK). The key finding of this investigation revealed that, of the three teachers, two did not develop the concept of fractions for their learners, but merely followed the traditional method of teaching the concept by encouraging their learners to memorise rules without understanding. Only one teacher emphasised an understanding of mathematical concepts. The main observation which the researcher made, was that teachers require a great deal of knowledge and expertise, in carrying out the work of teaching subject matter related to fractions. / Maikaelelo a thutopatlisiso e ne e le go tlhotlhomisa kitso ya dipalo ya barutabana malebana le go ruta barutwana ba Mophato wa 6 mogopolo wa dikarolwana. Go fitlhelela seo, go dirilwe thutopatlisiso e e lebelelang mabaka, go dirisiwa thadiso ya thutopatlisiso ya dikgetsi. Go kokoantswe data ka go ela tlhoko le go nna le dipotsolotso le barutabana ba le bararo kwa dikolong tsa kgaolo ya Capricorn Borwa. Thutopatlisiso eno e e theilweng mo tioring ya kago ya kitso e ne e tshegeditswe ke letlhomeso la sediriswa sa tokololo sa kitso ya dipalo ya go ruta (MKT) (Ball et al. 2008) le mogopolo wa ga Shulman (1986) wa kitso e e kgethegileng ya go ruta (PCK). Phitlhelelo ya botlhokwa ya patlisiso eno e senotse gore mo barutabaneng ba le bararo, ba le babedi ga ba a tlhamela barutwana ba bona mogopolo wa dikarolwana, mme ba latetse fela mokgwa wa tlwaelo wa go ruta mogopolo ka go rotloetsa barutwana go tshwarelela melawana kwa ntle ga go tlhaloganya. Ke morutabana a le mongwe fela yo o gateletseng go tlhaloganngwa ga megopolo ya dipalo. Temogo e kgolo e e dirilweng ke mmatlisisi ke gore barutabana ba tlhoka kitso le boitseanape jo bogolo go tsweletsa tiro ya go ruta dithuto tse di amanang le dikarolwana. / Dinyakišišo di ikemišeditše go utolla tsebo ya dipalo ya baithuti mabapi le go ruta kgopolo ya dipalophatlo go baithuti ba Kreiti ya 6. Ka lebaka la se go dirilwe dinyakišišo tša boleng, go šomišwa tlhamo ya dinyakišišo tša seemo. Tshedimošo e kgobokeditšwe ka go lekodišiša, le go dira dipoledišano le, barutiši ba bararo ka dikolong tše tharo ka seleteng sa Borwa bja Capricorn. Ka ge di theilwe go teori ya gore baithuti ba itlhamela tsebo, dinyakišišo di tlaleleditšwe ke tlhako ya boikgopolelo ya tsebo ya dipalo go ruteng (MKT) (Ball le ba bangwe, 2008) le kgopolo ya Shulman (1986) ya tsebo ya diteng tša thuto (PCK). Kutollo ye bohlokwa ya dinyakišišo tše e utollotše gore, go barutiši ba bararo, ba babedi ga se ba ba le kgopolo ya dipalophatlo go baithuti ba bona, eupša fela ba no latela mokgwa wa setlwaedi wa go ruta kgopolo ye ya dipalophatlo ka go hlohleletša baithuti ba bona go tsenya melawana ye ka hlogong ka ntle le go e kwešiša. Ke fela morutiši o tee yo a gateletšego gore go swanetše go ba le kwešišo ya dikgopolo tša dipalo. Temogo e tee yeo monyakišiši a bilego le yona, ebile gore barutiši ba hloka tsebo ye kgolo le botsebi, go phethagatša mošomo wa go ruta diteng tša thuto tšeo di amanago le dipalophatlo. / Mathematics Education / M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the training needs of law academics by examining their ability to use legal electronic information resources at Unisa effectively. Using the survey method, a questionnaire was used to collect data. The data was descriptively analysed. The study revealed that law academics are aware of the wide variety of electronic resources relevant to their work. Further, these academics possess the necessary basic skills to use these resources. However, the majority of academics do not have high levels of confidence in using specific electronic legal resources. This study concluded that, despite the library's provision of user training sessions for academics, training does not focus on legal electronic resources. The variety of responses revealed the diverse training needs of law academics. The study recommended that training needs analysis be conducted by subject librarians who would conduct specialised legal electronic training. / Information Sscience / M.Inf.