M.Ed. / Academic staff development is seen as a vehicle of empowerment that focuses on assisting individual members of staff to acquire knowledge, understanding and skills needed to teaceffectively. A great number of South African Higher Education institutions have made inroads and advances with regard to academic staff development programmes. However many such programmes are usually general to all staff members including administrators and professionals and do not address the specific needs of academics. Managers often plan these programmes without consulting the envisaged participants or conducting any needs assessment despite the literature on academic staff development emphasising the importance of conducting a proper needs assessment. As a result academic staff members in these institutions still feel left behind when it comes to academic issues affecting them directly, such as an absence of continuous staff development and the development of their research and academic writing skills. Many academics feel that such programmes are irrelevant and boring and do not attend. Based on the above the aim of this study was to explore the needs of academics within the Education Department of Vista University Soweto Campus in order to arrive at an informed understanding of such needs for the purpose of informing future academic staff development programme planning. For the purposes of this study qualitative research was conducted using semi-structured interviews with a purposefully selected sample of eleven academics within the Education Department in order to ascertain their academic staff development needs. Data were analysed using the constant comparative method. The findings of the research reveal that the majority of the academics were dissatisfied about the manner in which academic staff development activities are planned and conducted. Among the factors mentioned, the following feature prominently: the need for continuous staff development; the necessity of conducting a proper needs assessment prior to planning academic staff developmental programmes, the needs of the academics in acquiring the skills for research and academic writing, and the availability of more funding for staff development activities. This report concludes with a number of recommendations for planning with regard to academic staff development programmes.

The purpose of this study was to identify and examine pre-service teachers’ concerns relating to their teaching practicum in Zimbabwe and to suggest strategies that could be used to support them in a digitalised era. This study was necessitated by the desire to understand the concerns that pre-service teachers experience during teaching practicum in a fast changing world and in a depressing, unstable socio-politico-economic environment. The study employed a meta-conceptual approach comprising constructivist and social cognitive epistemology as its theoretical framework. A concurrent mixed methods research design was utilised to address the research questions. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to design the study, collect, and analyse data. Thirty participants comprising of 24 pre-service teachers and six college supervisors were purposively selected for the qualitative study from United College of Education in Zimbabwe. Qualitative data was collected by means of interviews and analysed through a thematic analysis. For the quantitative phase, 300 pre-service teachers were chosen through stratified random sampling from the same institution and were asked to complete a questionnaire. One hundred and ninety-three questionnaires were returned and usable, giving a return rate of 64%. Data from the survey were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the study revealed that pre-service teachers experience diverse concerns during teaching practicum that included classroom management, teacher knowledge, socio-economic factors, workload, interpersonal relationships and assessment anxiety. Findings from the quantitative phase revealed some differences in the levels of concerns among the year groups. A general downward trend in the levels of concerns was detected except for teacher beliefs concerns that remained constant. Findings from the qualitative phase of the study revealed that the concerns that pre-service teachers experienced during teaching practicum had negative impact on their classroom practice. Most of the student teachers had devised some coping strategies to deal with their concerns and they were satisfied with the quality of support from mentors and peers, but not that from their supervisors. In an increasingly globalised world, the researcher felt that teaching practicum related concerns could be minimised by exploiting the benefits of digitalised knowledge and communities of learning.

The Namibian education system has undergone major policy shifts from a ‘top-down’ hierarchical leadership practice to a more shared and democratic form of leadership in schools. These policies compel principals and school management team members to involve level-one teachers in decision-making and other leadership roles within their schools and beyond. However, to this end, the goals envisaged by policies for teachers to participate in, and contribute to the overall school leadership activities and decision-making have not been fully realised. This was due to the inherent hierarchy of the ‘top-down’ system and autocratic leadership style which remains powerful within the current school practice. Against this backdrop, this study interrogated how teacher leadership can be developed in a rural Secondary School in northern Namibia. The underlying cultural-historical conditions that promoted or constrained teacher leadership development were surfaced. Opportunities for changes in leadership practices through a formative intervention were developed. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was utilised as a theoretical and analytical framework in this study together with Grant’s Model of Teacher Leadership (2006; 2008; 2010). Five level-one teachers, two school management members and a school board chairperson were selected as research participants by means of a purposive sampling method. Furthermore, the study used document analysis, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and change laboratory workshops as main tools for data generation. The findings revealed that participants understood the concept of teacher leadership differently and that teachers in the case study school were leading in all four zones of teacher leadership model (Grant, 2006; 2008; 2012) although their roles differed. However, the study also found that teacher leadership development was mostly intensified by managerial structures. It appeared from the findings of this study that conditions such as the role of the school management team (SMT) members in promoting teacher leadership development, a supportive organisational culture, and provision of learning support amongst staff members through the attendance of workshops emerged as factors promoting the development of teachers as leaders. The study also revealed that there were many cultural and historical tensions that constrained the practice of teacher leadership development in school. Thus, the study argues that limited leadership training and an inherent ‘top-down’ hierarchical style of leadership was the main underlying systemic causes that constrained teachers to be developed as leaders. Through the change laboratory workshops, the findings suggested that there was a need for continuous professional development initiatives and leadership training, as alternative way for the realisation of teacher leadership development. Finally, a recommendation that leadership aspects should be constituted in pre-and in-service professional development training as an ongoing practice is made.

M.Ed. / This research report investigates the experiences of teachers of the incorporation of Environmental Education (EE) into schools and the role of environmental clubs in facilitating it. The rationale for this study is based on finding solutions to existing environmental problems, conducted with an educational focus. Management of the environment will pass on to future generations, hence there is a responsibility for teachers to inculcate environmental awareness. The South African governments’ efforts, through the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS), to incorporate EE into the present curriculum is extensively outlined in numerous research reports. Its goal is to, ''seek to create a lifelong learner who is confident and independent, literate, numerate, and multi-skilled, compassionate, with a respect for the environment and the ability to participate in a society as a critical and active citizen'' (Department of Education, 2002:08). This study aimed to investigate the experiences of teachers in EE and its incorporation in the school curriculum. The second aim was to investigate how these perceptions may impact on their teaching and learning in the classroom. The final aim was to investigate whether the introduction of environmental clubs into school would cause a change to EE implementation in the classroom. Methodologically, this research project was located in the both the quantitative and qualitative paradigms, the participants having comprised teachers and Heads of Departments (HoDs), as well as principals from three schools in the dependent sector, namely government-based schools in the District 6 region in Gauteng province. The three schools were randomly selected to represent schools of varying financial status as well as of multi-racial contexts.

M.Ed. (Tertiary Didactics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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.

M.A. / The inclusive education model was explained in a South African perspective with, reference made to race, class, and gender. This was in line with the past experiences that emerged in our country. Separate learning opportunities were introduced. This was seen as discrimination against those with disabilities, who have been labeled as having learning barriers and placed in special settings. Engelbrecht and Green (2001) indicated that South African education was moving away from a special education towards a policy of inclusion. This was reflected in the National Education policy development since 1994, and was strongly supported by parent bodies such as the Disability Desk of the Office of the Deputy State President, the Disability Movement, the new South African School Act, as well as the policy on Outcome Based Education and Curriculum, 2005. As inclusive practices were implemented, attitudinal barriers, especially among teachers, have been explored. The primary findings were that teachers agreed in principle with the goals of inclusion, but many felt unprepared to work in inclusive settings (Matsropieri and Scruggs, 2000). Engelbrecht (1999) was of the opinion that teachers may need to be trained on how to identify and address special educational needs, as well as developing a critical understanding of common stereotypes and prejudices related to disability, and reflect on how these have influenced their own attitudes. If all the above can be achieved, teachers could be in a position to work as change agents who can influence the attitudes of the school community towards learners with disabilities. The aim of the study was to explore the dilemmas teachers were faced with in implementing the inclusion programme in mainstream schools around Daveyton, with the intention of determining the extent to which the inclusion programme objectives were implemented.

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Education is fundamentally an imaginative act of hope” (Purkey and Novak, 1996, p.1) and this hope is dependent on one’s ability to care enough to develop each child to his or her full potential. The intention of this study is to determine the dispositions of fourth year Foundation Phase students at a local higher education institute, and to establish how these dispositions influence their practice during their scheduled teaching practicals. The findings from this study will be used to propose a strategy for Initial Professional Education and Training (IPET) programmes in order to explicitly develop invitational dispositions in Foundation Phase teachers in training. The study is supported by a theoretical framework which investigates the notion of dispositions and the development of these through the lenses of structuration theory, social cognitive theory and attribution-based theory of motivation, and leading to the application of the Invitational Education approach. Self concept theory and perceptual theory are encompassed within this approach, and form an integral part of the study. From this theoretical framework, an invitational dispositional framework is developed to represent the inter-connected nature of the five invitational dispositions of care, intentionality, trust, respect and optimism. The research design and methodology of the study is located in the interpretivist paradigm, using a case study design within a qualitative approach. A survey is used to collect data relating to fourth year Foundation Phase students’ opinions regarding the essential dispositions required by Foundation Phase teachers in order to establish positive teaching and learning environments. Further data is gathered from two nested cases of fourth year Foundation Phase students during both their first and second teaching practicals, through the means of observations, interviews and document analysis. Each data source is analysed through content analysis in an attempt to identify the common patterns that emerge, followed by the coding of the data according to the invitational dispositions of care, intentionality, trust, respect and optimism. The opinions of the students, as determined from the analysis of the survey, are then compared to their actions as demonstrated through their practice, with a final consideration of the developmental trajectory of these dispositions. From this study, it was found that the dispositional ability to care is of paramount importance in Foundation Phase teaching and that this dispositional ability is determined in three inter- iii connected areas. A reduced ability to care in one of the interactional areas of self, others and the profession results in a decreased ability to care in the other areas as well. Upon analysis of the data, it was discovered that low levels of self confidence and limited care for the learning taking place in classrooms results in inconsistent invitational interactions between the student and the children. Lower levels of care further impacts upon the students’ ability to act with intentionality in each of the three interactional areas. Students would greatly benefit from explicit development in their reflective practice and in their self confidence, as “caring is an ethic that guides action” (Purkey and Novak, 1996, p.9). In this way students would be able to be Intentionally Inviting more consistently, and purposefully engage with children in the teaching and learning process.

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 thesis reports on a responsive action research case study undertaken to teach student teachers to read critically. I undertook this research to gain a basic knowledge about critical reading as well as to form a knowledge base that would enable me to teach it effectively. First, I gave students a diagnostic assessment activity, analyzed the result and established the students’ ability to read a text critically. After I had established the students’ strengths, weaknesses, and the requirements to move students from their existing critical reading competency to an improved one, I reviewed the literature to provide me with a theory of teaching critical reading. The lessons were then planned and taught. The lessons; focus group interviews; researcher’s diary; students’ reflections and non-participant observer comments formed the data of the study. The data were analyzed using the framework of “what went well”, “what did not go well” and “what needs to be improved if the lessons were to be repeated”. The main purpose was to address the goals of the research, which were to find effective ways of teaching critical reading, appropriate critical reading materials, and to identify any pedagogic shortcomings. The 30 students who took part in this research were third-year students studying English Second language and Mother tongue pedagogies to become specialists in the teaching of both at Junior Secondary level (grades 8 – 10). The study was guided by constructivist theory, which underpins learner-centred education, which continues to inform and shape the development of curricula in Namibia.