M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Ed. (Environmental Education) / The urgency of the issues concerning man's relationship to the natural environment is confirmed by the large-scale publicity given these issues in the media. This has resulted in a general public awareness of environmental issues, which is presently reflected by numerous efforts to further stimulate positive interest in conservation, responsible utilisation of natural resources as well as sustainable living. Environmental education is the component of education that informs and makes people aware of their immediate environments. Although the principles and guidelines are set according to international standards, this issue should urgently and visibly be instilled in the South African society in order for it to become part of the life-style, value system, social system and education of South Africans in order to develop and promote environmentally literate individuals. During the past 12 years a process of transformation affected all spheres of South African society, including education and training. An outcomes-based curriculum (Curriculum 2005) has already seen many changes and at present a National Curriculum Statement is in place. It is important for learners to acquire environmental literacy (knowledge, skills, attitudes and values), as without concerted efforts at life-long learning for sustainability, South Africa will not be able to become a competitive power in the world, but will face problems regarding sustainable utilisation of natural resources. This in turn can be to the detriment of ensuring sustainability for future generations. It is generally accepted that the next generation of decision makers should be better equipped to not only face environmental issues and problems, but through the process of education, future generations should appreciate their environment and utilise and manage it responsibly in order to enable them to provide solutions with a systematic ecological view of sustainability. In order to ensure success in this regard, educators in all school phases will need to accept the responsibility of applying the principles of environmental education and aspects regarding the environment as indicated in the learning outcomes and assessment standards of the National Curriculum Statement. In order for this to be successfully implemented, student educators should be thoroughly trained to present environmental education in schools. This does not only imply a broadening of educators' knowledge base, but especially the establishment and improvement of their own level of environmental literacy. Only then will educators be in a position to realise the principles as indicated in the White Paper on environmental education. With the environment or aspects of the environment described in the learning outcomes and/or assessment standards of the National Curriculum Statement, it is clear that environmental education will re-emphasise classic educational principles aimed at encouraging positive learner attitudes towards the environment. These attitudes can be defined in terms such as responsibility, concern, inclination towards conservation and sustainability, and awareness and respect for creation. It is clear that some basic aspects of environmental literacy should be investigated in teacher training programmes. A cognitive component has long been accepted as a prerequisite for the existence of any particular attitude while a personal value system is also important...

D.Ed. (Education Management) / The link between dietary practices and the prevalance as well as the prevention of various diseases have been proven beyond any doubt; the guidelines of the Prudent Diet were subsequently put forward to reduce many of these nutrition-related risk factors. Due to inadequate numbers, qualified nutrition educators cannot target their efforts to reach all vulnerable groups and everybody is thus not in a position to glean sound nutrition knowledge, enabling them to plan -healthy diets. Teachers could fill this gap, provided they are well versed in nutritional matters. Eating habits are usually formed in chidhood but the establishment of sound practices is a dynamic life-long process. Exposure to accurate and convincing information could benefit eating behaviour, but incorrect nutrition messages may have a confusing and detrimental influence upon people's choice of foods. Magazines and parents are reported as the major sources of nutrition information as well as misinformation for school children and students. School subjects are seldom singled out as being of significant value. These findings suggest the dire need for teachers to be properly trained in nutrition. Since students are notoriously ignorant on nutrition related issues and tend to follow a typical but often poor diet, this study aimed at determining the effect of a nonformal consumer orientated nutrition education programme on the nutrition knowledge and eating habits of student teachers at the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU). All the students in the 1993 Didactics class (representative of the student teachers at this university) were selected as an appropriate target audience. Nutrition education can only be effective and efficient if the particular needs of the target group are addressed by means of a popular and acceptable teaching strategy. A nutrition education programme based on the guidelines of the Prudent Diet and similar in format to magazine articles, seemed to be an appropriate teaching method. Questionnaires were developed to collect and compare pre- and post-test information on nutrition knowledge, levels of interest, eating habits and individual queries or comments. Test questions were based on common misconceptions as responded in the literature, and food frequency questionnaires included 20 items of which prudent lowered or increased intakes are recommended. Actual and perceived nutrition and consumer knowledge scores were analyzed for sex, age, residence, sports activities, personal opinions and sources of information by means of paired t-tests. These data contributed towards interpreting the test results, assessing knowledge needs, gauging interest and formulating the contents and format of the learning material.

D.Ed. / The aim of this research is to determine teaching for the development of meaningful learning by Educational students at Vista University. determine these teaching strategies, the objectives were formulated: To determine the factors which have an influence on earning strategies. To determine the learning strategies of the first year Education students at Vista University. To identify teaching strategies that would encourage meaningful learning. Firstly a review is given of the research done in the field of learning strategies. The work done in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Australia and the USA is discussed. The learning strategies identified by these researches are then divided into two groups, those encouraging a surface learning strategy and those encouraging a deep learning strategy; The latter resulting in meaningful learning. In the second instance, factors influencing learning strategies are discussed. These factors aredivided into personal factors (cognitive style, previous experience, motivation, conception of learning, background knowledge, intellectual ability, personality, self-concept, age, sex and cerebral hemispherisity) and institutional factors (subject area and departmental context, the nature of the task and task demands, the student's perception of the teaching and learning context, teaching and evaluation). An indication is also given of which factors and which specific aspects of the factors give rise to either a surface learning strategy or a deep learning strategy. Thirdly, one of the factors, namely teaching is discussed by referring to how it influences a student's choice of a learning strategy. Aspects such as teaching styles, teaching methods, media, effective teaching and the student's perception of teaching are discussed. Fourthly, a second factor, evaluation is discussed by looking at evaluation and objectives, ways of evaluating, evaluation techniques, criteria and prerequisites for evaluation, the role of evaluation in the teaching situation and the relationship between evaluation and the student's learning. Throughout the discussion on teaching and evaluation, an attempt is made to give an indication of the status quo concerning these aspects at Vista University. An attempt is also made to identify which aspects of these two factors encourage either a surface or a deep learning strategy. In order to determine the learning strategies of first year Education students at Vista University, an empirical research is undertaken. In the quantitative part of the research the measuring instrument used is the Approaches to Studying Inventory developed by Entwistle and Ramsden. The SOLO Taxonomy as developed by Biggs and Collis is used in the qualitative part of the research. The research group consists of the first year Education students at the Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Welkom, Sebokeng and Soweto campuses of Vista University during 1988. From the research the conclusion can be drawn that the students do have a meaning orientation towards learning but the learning strategy that they apply is reproductive. Lastly, an attempt is made to determine teaching strategies that would encourage meaningful learning. The conclusion is reached that the lecturer's intention with regard to his teaching must be brought in line with the student's perception of the teaching situation. In order to bring this about meta-teaching strategies are proposed as the teaching strategies that would lead to meaningful learning.

The research presented in this thesis is a case study, based on ethnographic principles, located in the interpretive paradigm of qualitative research. The focus is specifically on the development of a collaborative approach ro teacher professional development: an approach that recognises and celebrates teachers themselves as resources for their own and other teachers' professional development. The study was carried out over a period of four years with a group of twelve teachers who had recognised the need and expressed the desire to develop their teaching. The research evolved in two main phases. The initial phase was based on the implementation and evaluation of a project designed to encourage a collaborative approach to teacher development based on mutual peer support. This led to a second phase, the main focus of the research, aimed at gaining a greater understanding of the teachers' situation and situating their practice in the wider context generated by this understanding. Conversations with the teachers led to the identification of dimensions and tensions characterising their experience. The research presented here, represents an attempt to understand, interpret and make recommendations relating to the professional development of teachers. The understanding is linked to the teachers' educational biographies and experience of the culture in which they are situated. The interpretation is based on what may be viewed as a dynamic ongoing construction of meaning - a journey of negotiation. The text, described as a narrative collage, a tapestry of voices interwoven by threads of negotiation, represents a collaborative accomplishment. The teachers' words have been interpretively framed and these constructions validated in an interpersonal construction of social reality. The reader is invited to engage in an act of complicity, to collude with the text in the construction and negotiation of shared meaning, possibly finding resonance with their own situations. Reflections on the teachers' experience reveal journeys which resonate with that of the society in which the school is located - 'a case in transition' - situated between an environment characterised by constrained cooperation and an environment characterised by freer collaboration. The overall tension may be viewed metaphorically as a 'Tug o' War'. On one end of the rope is a cultural legacy of authority, isolation, social division and conservatism, while on the other end there is a pull towards greater autonomy and interaction, to adapt rather than conserve and to work together in mutual collegial support: a struggle between cooperating with what is and collaborating towards what could be. The main contention of this thesis is that we ought strongly to support and encourage collaborative approaches to professional development based on mutual peer support. We need to look towards a future of open professionalism where the teachers are regarded as key persons in the process. The attainment of such an ideal needs to be seen as part of systemic changes in management, policies and structure geared towards greater inclusivity and democratic practice; it necessitates a coherent approach that is based on relationships of mutual respect and appreciation.

This study used diagnostic tests, questionnaires and interviews to investigate explore teachers’ subject content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical subject knowledge (PCK). It also explored teachers’ and learners’ misconceptions within the topic of graphicacy and how teachers’ SCK and PCK possibly affect learner achievement. A small sample of teachers were drawn from the Keiskammahoek region; a deep rural area of the Eastern Cape. These teachers were part of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Amathole Cluster Schools Project who were registered for a three-year BEd (FET) in-service programme in mathematics education. As part of the programme they studied mathematics 1 and 2 at university level and received quarterly non-formal workshops on teaching mathematics at FET level. The findings of this study suggest that teachers with insufficient SCK will probably have limited PCK, although the two are not entirely dependent on each other. In cases where teachers’ displayed low levels of SCK and PCK, their learners were more likely to perform poorly and their results often indicated similar misconceptions as displayed by their teachers. This implies that we have to look at what teachers know and what they need to know in terms of SCK and PCK if we are to plan effectively for effective teacher development aimed at improving learner performance.

M.Ed. (Education) / South-Africa is on the verge of a new lifestyle, a new way of thinking and doing. The task thrust upon the teacher of today for preparing the adults of the future, is therefore a very important one. But the present teachers are not going to be there for ever, new teachers are entering the educational system all the time. The preparation of these new teachers is the focus of this study. Students qualifying as teachers need to undergo a programme of preparation to be professionally acceptable. The course of this study is both theoretical and practical. The student must have a fundamental knowledge of children, as well as the subject . matter that they must make fundamental for the children. If they know the child, and they know the subject matter, they should also be capable of conveying this knowledge successful]y to the child. This is a complex action that cannot be done only with knowledge from a book or books, but must be practised during the preparation of the students, otherwise no help can be given to the student. This is where practice teaching plays a very important role. The importance of practice teaching cannot be underestimated. The preparation of teachers may not be only theoretical or only practical, but an integration of the two aspects. With the theoretical foundation, the students set Qut for practice teaching. At the schools they interact with other teachers and with children, and prepare lessons to present to their supervisors. This is where different points of view occur over what really happened during the lesson, how the ,practice lesson should have been presented and how the student should have been evaluated on his performance. Lots of students do not think that these practice les80ns are worth while and the whole idea of practice teaching is lost. To counteract this negative feeling from students, research was done to determine which problems students experience during practice teaching. Some procedures have been identified as problems, and some procedures not. The feelings of the students were noted and the handling of practice teaching by all parties was investigated. To ensure that practice teaching has a profound impact on students, a form to evaluate the students was designed. This form aims to set aside some subjective measures that may result in negative attitudes by students. The evaluation forms of some universities and colleges have been evaluated to find a way of trying to motivate students through the process of evaluation during practice teaching.

M.A (Linguistics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Education Management))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment or partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Education In the Department of Philosophy of Education at the University of Zululand, 1997. / This study has taken shape over a period of years during which the South African education system has been influenced by radical political changes. The changes have, consequently, catalysed transformation of the lives and thought patterns of South Africans. These changes, therefore, assign to philosophy of education a dramatic and significant role in the process of social transformation as philosophy of education ought to be a guide to educational practice. This thesis centred on one broad objective, i.e. to establish the role of philosophy of education in teacher education in South Africa as there has been controversy surrounding its role in apartheid South Africa. Chapter two covers the review of literature on the nature and role of philosophy of education. Firstly, the disputes of philosophy of education are analysed. Secondly, the history of philosophy of education is discussed so as to put the study in historical perspective. Thirdly, some approaches, which give a muitifaceted nature of philosophy of education as a field of study, are analysed. Chapter three reviews philosophy of education in selected countries so that the study can be viewed in relation to international trends-Questionnaire survey, as well as informal interviews were used in this study which enabled the researcher to gain deeper understanding of and insight into the problem under investigation. Findings revealed that: (i) Philosophy of education is still fragmented, i.e., there is no co-ordination among various philosophy of education departments. (ii) Universities have oriented their philosophy of education curricula to serve the national aspirations of South Africa. However, in some universities significant sections of the 'old' philosophy of education curricula remained unchanged. (iii) Philosophy of education is not truly multicentric in nature (with the exception of one university) as African philosophy is not included in the philosophy of education curricula. (iv) The piace of philosophy of education is still secured in all universities. The above findings emphasise the need for philosophy of education departments to review their philosophies of education curricula and the way they operate. The following are the two most significant recommendations. 1. Philosophy of education departments need to collaborate with one another because of the importance of the course in teacher education. 2. African philosophy need to be a component of philosophy of education curricula in order to introduce an African perspective in this course.