A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration at the University of Zululand, 1989. / This dissertation sets out to investigate the relevance and the effectiveness of the Primary Teachers' Diploma (PTD) Music Syllabi. The Main focus is the KwaZulu and Natal Colleges of Education that offer PTD. Chapter 1 outlines the background to the research study, and discusses the role played by Music in both rural and urban Black communities. This chapter also summarises the musical needs of black communities. Chapter 2 reviews the literature that deals with the teaching of Music in schools. This literature is then compared and contrasted with the prescribed Music syllabi of the South African Black schools and colleges. Chapter 3 describes and discusses the interviews, questionnaires and observation (Triangulation) that are used to investigate the relevance and effectiveness of the PTD Music Syllabi. Chapter 4 presented the findings that are concluded in chapter 5. The prescribed PTD Music syllabi are found to be generally relevant but ineffective. The ineffectiveness is attributed to factors such as poor musical background of music students, inadequately trained music teachers, amount of allocated time, and a shortage of music equipment. The researcher recommends that Music teachers should be in-serviced and be helped to improve their music knowledge and qualifications. A balance is to be brought about between the allocated amount of work and time. Secondary schools are to try and offer Music as a subject.

Magister Educationis - MEd / In this mini-thesis I focus primarily on collaborative writing in the study of prescribed prose texts as a medium of academic development of primary school student teachers. The problem with the present approach to the teaching of prose texts, and the introduction of the prosess approach to writing as a possible solution to the problem, is briefly discussed. In Chapter 2 the deficiencies of the current approach to the teaching of prose texts are discussed in detail. To place the above in the proper perspective a critical analysis is made of the existing Teachers Diploma syllabus for Afrikaans prose setworks, with special reference to the interpretation of the syllabus, and the organisation and presentation of the teaching programme for prose texts at a specific teachers' college of education. The main shortcomings which are referred to in the study are, inter alia: the organisation of the prose setwork teaching programme, compartmentalisation of language components, limited teaching time, the implication of the single, vague teaching goal for prose "texts, lecturer-centredness, and student's inability to work independently. In Chapter 3 the possible influence of the present approach to writing on the teaching of prose texts is discussed with special reference to methods of collaboration in learning. It is argued that the application of groupwork in a learnercentered approach to the teaching of prose texts can contribute to the elimination of many of the above problems, and that it can result in a rejuvenation in the class context, which may lead to students experiencing literature study as an enjoyable learning activity. The holistic nature of the process approach to writing is also included, since it leads to the integration of different language components, and saves time. The process approach to writing provides the required instruments for independent study. It is argued that the process approach to writing helps students to take co-responsibility for their own learning, and offers them the opportunity to contribute towards their own academic development. Based on the advantages indicated above, I designed a draft curriculum in Chapter 4. Action research was :done and the process approach to writing was implemented in the reality of the classroom situation on a small scale. With the lecturer who acted as facilitator to guide them to a specific goal, twenty-two first year students studied a prose setwork text, Jerigo-krisis by André Jansen. A single aspect in the process approach to writing was emphasised in particular, viz., collaborative learning in literature study. During the implementation of the plan an observer monitored the reaction of the target group, and gave her comments after each lesson. Students were also asked to evaluate the course in their personal journals, and to discuss the course during their journal conferences. The biggest shortcoming of the provisional plan, which students mentioned, and which I also noticed was the lack of time. The students wanted to spend more time on certain conferences, particularly content and evaluation conferences. The revised plan in Chapter 5 is the result and amendment of the draft curriculum.

In this study, the effects of an explicit reflective intervention on Swaziland elementary preservice teachers’ understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) were investigated. The factors that had an impact on the development of participants’ NOS views were also investigated. The intervention made use of de-contextualized and contextualized activities as well as historical narratives as contexts for reflecting about the empirical, creative, subjective as well as the tentative NOS. The intervention included a discussion of the relationships and differences between observations and inferences as well as scientific laws and theories in the context of the aforementioned learning activities. Participants were 24 elementary pre-service teachers enrolled for their final year of their three year teacher development programme. An adapted version of the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire-Form C (VNOS-C) was used in conjunction with individual interviews, to assess the participants’ understanding of NOS at the beginning and conclusion of the intervention. At the end of the programme, data from interviews, concept maps and reflective journals of seven participants were analysed to ascertain their perceptions of the elements of the course and other factors that had an impact on their development of more informed NOS views. These participants were selected on the basis of their differential gains in NOS understanding. The data that was analysed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques revealed that the intervention brought about significant gains in some participants’ understanding of NOS. Information obtained from the document analysis of journals and concept maps as well as exit interviews of the selected group revealed that the pre-service teachers’ development of more informed views was mediated by motivational and cognitive factors. These were the participants’ perception of the value of teaching and learning NOS, their views about teaching and learning science, and their ability to engage deeply with the NOS concepts as well as their epistemic beliefs. The explicit reflective attention to NOS as well as metacognitive strategies was reported by most of the selected participants as responsible for changes in their NOS views. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted