published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Philosophy

The curriculum for Senior Primary students at a college of education was selected for study as it is a curriculum that seems to be more problematic than other curricula at the college. The study sought to gather a range of evidence from lecturers and students and about the issues that they identified as being of concern and about the learning milieu. The evaluation aimed to engage students and lecturers in a process of critical reflection on the assumptions and values which underpin practice at the college. The overarching research design was multiple operationalism located within a naturalistic paradigm. Interviews were used to generate critical issues from participants. Further interviews, questionnaires and documentary analysis provided thick descriptions of the critical issues. The ways in which the position of the evaluator as a member of the management team influenced the choice of methods and role as evaluator are discussed and the problem of incompatibility between the ethos of the college and the assumptions which support democratic evaluation is considered . In discussing the strengths and limitations of the Senior Primary course, the dichotomy between general and vocational education for teachers is explored and the problematic nature of a knowledge base for teachers is considered. Curricular principles of balance, relevance and cohesion are related to the college curriculum. In considering the obstacles to curriculum change at the college, institutional values of privacy, territory and hierarchy are discussed. Throughout the study an attempt is made to reveal the different perceptions of participants and the many views of reality on which these perceptions are based. The evaluation report concludes by posing key questions which highlight the essential issues which need to be addressed by the college. These are the need to achieve a shared sense of purpose about education for the Senior Primary phase, to make students more responsible partners in the teaching and learning relationship, to forge closer links with primary schools, to move away from subject-centricity and a transmission mode of teaching and to empower lecturers to bring about the changes that they feel are necessary. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, 1991.

A review of histories, studies, and various writings was made in order to form a concept of the nature and extent of the child study movement in an effort to discover how the emphasis upon the child centered movement of the past is now influencing the training which the public school teacher of tomorrow is receiving. In studying the general background of education, it was found that the emphasis of early education was not centered upon the individual within a society, but upon group conformity. It was further noted that as social advances were made, man realized the need for some system of organized education. Through reviewing the field of educational literature, it was found that many common or public schools came into existence after about 1350. These schools were devoted to the task of giving instruction in reading and writing the vernacular language. These schools were mentioned as a means of showing that a number of important social changes were factors which influenced the development of a pattern which later became the public schools which are found in America today. Mention was made to the three separate viewpoints of education which were characteristically classified into the colonies of New England, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. By dividing the colonies into these three groups it was possible to see that the early education of America had many facets rather than one common cultural and social origin. The control of schools and of education was noted to have been placed in the hands of the people of individual States through the tenth amendment to the Constitution. Thus, education became a matter of the States during the early years of the nation's history. Although each State controlled its own schools and set the patterns for the underlying emphasis of those particular schools, all of the States shared the characteristic of devoting little major emphasis to the systematic investigation of child nature. It was not until about 1880, when Granville Stanley Hall was at Clark University, that the scientific study of child nature and development was pursued in the United States. Emphasis of this newly started movement centered the attention of educators upon the notion that the child was a slowly developing personality, demanding subject-matter and method suited to his stage of development. This new conception of teaching was that of directing education instead of hearing recitations and "keeping school." This movement focussed attention sharply on the child, his nature and needs. While the scientific study of children was conducted by a variety of individuals and groups, it was possible to infer within limits that there was a degree of continuity throughout the movement. Therefore, a criterion was compiled consisting of fifteen points which characterized the child study movement. A review was conducted of the current (1959-1960) course offerings in professional studies in education of seven schools. These schools, the State supported schools in Virginia which offered courses in professional education to undergraduate and/or graduate students who are preparing to teach in either elementary or secondary schools, were: 1. The College of William and Mary 2. Longwood College 3. Madison College 4. Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia 5. Radford College, Woman's Division of Virginia Polytechnic Institute 6. The University of Virginia 7. Virginia State College. Considering the schools individually, a careful study of each course description was prepared. Appendices "A" through "G" contains the courses and course descriptions of the schools which were considered for this study. These course descriptions were studied with regard to the previously mentioned criterion of the child study movement. It was noted that many characteristics of the child study movement were present in the descriptions of the current course offerings. In this manner, it was possible to discover a list of current course offerings which reflect characteristics similar to those of the child study movement. It was also noted that several generalized areas existed among the overall course offerings. These generalized areas within the current course offerings which seemed to reflect major emphasis and repetition in appearance were: 1. Child growth and development 2. Mental hygiene 3. Educational tests and measurements 4. School-pupil guidance 5. Principles and problems of instruction 6. Reading difficulties 7. The teaching-learning process. It would, therefore, seem to follow that there is an influential element of the child study movement in certain current course offerings of the Virginia training institutions of today. / M.S.