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.

Submitted in fulfillment for the Degree Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand. = Afr: Proefskrif voorgele ter nakoming van die Vereistes vir die Graad Doctor Educationis in die Departement Opvoedkundlge Sielkunde van die Fakulteit Opvoedkunde aan die Universiteit van Zoeloeland, 1994. / Eng = The aim of this study was to determine whether white teachers maintain certain perceptions regarding the black teacher's occupational world as life-world. From the literature study it became clear that the implementation of the policy of separate development caused black and white teachers to exercise their professions separately and therefore had little or no opportunity for professional contact. Separate subsystems of education, each with it's own standard, caused black and white teachers to form different perceptions of one another's occupational worlds. Resistance to the policy of separate development influenced the education system and led to the crisis in black education. Education became the battlefield of political ideologies. This crisis culminated in the Soweto uprisings of 1976. Both pupils and teachers took to unacceptable behaviour such as stay-aways, strikes, and boycotts in order to accomplish certain political goals. In order to determine white teachers perceptions of the black teachers occupational world, an empirical study was undertaken. The content of the self structured questionnaire dealt with certain relevant aspects of the teachers occupational world. From this research it became clear that white teachers are of the opinion that the black teacher's training is not always of a high professional standard and that black teachers often act in an unprofessional manner. Results from the empirical research indicated that white teachers have a very limited knowledge of the black teacher's occupational world as life-world. As a result of the findings of this research certain recommendations were made: * A Council for Teachers must be established. * All teachers must be compelled to register with the recommended Council. * All curricula for both the training of student teachers and permanentteachers who wish to improve their qualifications, must be accredited with the Council for Teachers. * All teachers must undergo a period of internship. * All teachers must be professionally equipped for a new education dispensation. With this research an effort was made to establish certain recommendations in order to improve the relationship between black and white teachers in a new educational dispensation. It is trusted that this study on teacher perceptions will eventually lead to a better quality of education for all the children of South Africa. Afr =Die doel van hierdie studie was om vas te stel of wit onderwysers sekere persepsies rakende die beroepswereld as leefwereld van swart onderwysers huldig. Uit die Iiteratuurstudie het dit geblyk dat die implementering van die beleid van afsonderlike ontwikkeling daartoe gelei dat swart en wit onderwysers hulle professies apart moes beoefen en gevolglik min geleentheid tot professionele kontak gehad het. Afsonderlike substelsels vir onderwys, elk met eiesoortige standaarde het veroorsaak dat wit en swart onderwysers sekere persepsies van mekaar se beroepswerelde gevorm het. Verset teen die beleid van afsonderJike ontwikkeling wat na die onderwys oorgespoel het, het swart onderwys in 'n krisis gedompel. Onderwys het die politieke slagveld van ideologiese doelwitte geword. Hierdie krisis het in die Soweto-opstande van 1976 gekulmineer. Nie net het leerlinge hulle aan onaanvaarbare gedrag begin skuldig maak nie, maar onderwysers het hulle ook al hoe meer tot onprofessionele gedrag 5005 wegbly-aksies, stakings en boikotte gewend ten einde sekere doelwitte te bereik. Ten einde die aard van die wit onderwysers se persepsie van die swart onderwyser se beroepswereld te bepaal, is 'n empiriese ondersoek deur middel van 'n selfgestruktureerde vraelys onderneem. Die inhoud van die vraelys het gehandel oar sekere aspekte van die onderwyser se beroepswereld. Uit die ondersoek het dit geblyk dat die wit onderwyser van mening is dat swart onderwysopleiding nie van hoogstaande professionele gehalte is nie en dat swart onderwysers hulle dikwels aan onprofessionele gedrag skuldig maak. By die verwerking van die statistiese data het dit geblyk dat wit onderwysers 'n beperkte kennis en insig rakende die swart onderwyser se beroepswereld as leefwereld het. Op grand van die bevindinge van die ondersoek word die volgende aanbevelings gemaak: * * * Oat die daarstelling van 'n Raad vir Onderwysers oorweeg sal word. Oat daar van alle onderwysers in die toekoms verwag sal word om by 'n Raad vir Onderwysers te registreer. Oat alle kurrikula vir die opleiding van onderwysers by die Raad vir Onderwysers geakkrediteer sal word. Met hierdie navorsing is daar gepoog om aanbevelings te maak wat die verhouding tussen wit en swart onderwysers in 'n nuwe onderwysbedeling sal verbeter. Die hoop word uitgespreek dat die verbetering van die swart onderwyser se kwalifikasies sy professionele gedrag sal bevorder en uiteindelik tot 'n beter gehalte onderwys vir al die kinders van Suid-Afrika mag lei.

Harmony is found between a specific area of professional family life literature and the results of several surveys from within a particular metropolitan area. Revealed is a teacher inadequacy to the task of family life education in the primary and secondary schools. Deterrents are found to be a lack of both pertinent knowledge and skill. Having shown consensus that the stated problem exists the further purpose of the thesis is to propose an aid to its remedy. Three factors require attention. Teachers need additional information from both the social and physical sciences. They need an opportunity to become aware of inhibiting attitudes. Lastly, teachers need experience in creating a dialogue-centered classroom. An in-service teacher education program in family life education is proposed to modify deterrents to teacher adequacy. The proposed program stresses the application of sociological concepts to the mode of conducting the sessions as well as to its content. The resulting kind of education program provides an environment which both stimulates and nurtures readiness for learning. Communication is found to be basic to human interaction and therefore also to human development. It is through the communicative process that teachers-in-service are assisted in becoming aware of their relevant attitudes. At the same time, communicative skills are developed. Concurrently an analytic frame of reference is encouraged through the suggested materials and their use. Care is given in selecting a wide range of types of materials representing contrasting social psychological views. Recognizing the difficulty of maintaining objectivity while discussing potentially emotion laden topics a sociological tool is suggested. Purpose of the tool is to both assist in analysis of materials and to encourage objectivity. Following an accounting' of purposes and goals of the in-service program, techniques are given for its implementation. The program itself consists of ten sessions. Each session 'has a separate topic accompanied by suggested materials. Topics are chosen in order to first lead the teacher-in-service toward an analytical approach to family life materials. Further, teachers are encouraged to seek out frames of reference used in writings on human development. Through discussion teachers will become an active part of the material under study. Several of the sessions are concerned with pertinent aspects of the social institutions of family, religion, education and economics. In addition extensive consideration of physical aspects of human development and their social implications is given. Social change as it is related to the family and male and female roles is important. This emphasis is entirely in keeping with the social psychological frame of reference in which the entire study is placed. Through implementation of the described in service program the deterrents to teacher adequacy to the family life education task may be modified.

This report sets oat to establish the need for a school-focussed staff development programme within South African schools given the changing educational imperatives in teacher education. It challenges the notion that a person with a university degree or teaching certificate is equipped for lifelong service as a teacher, by addressing the role that institutions can play in promoting professional development. The study focuses on the experiences of one school to evince teacher enhancement strategies. The methodology employs observation, interviews and a questionnaire pertaining to both the success of and the need for school-focussed staff development. The study found that the importance o f staff development increases as teachers develop new rationales and create new strategies to fit their particular context and needs. It further found that giving teachers the opportunity to make instructional innovations enhanced whole school development It stresses the need tor educational authorities to devolve more autonomy to schools, by supporting initiatives which integrate staff development and problem-solving approaches. Lastly, it makes recommendations on the induction o f professional dev elopment to facilitate structural and ideological evolution within schools. By locating this within the case study school, it found links between staff development and school achievement. Finally it stresses the need for schools to design programmes to suit fheir particular context. The study concludes by encouraging further research in the area of school-focussed staff development applicable to the South African context

This research study was a netnographic exploration of teachers’ attitudes and perspectives regarding running records, a ubiquitous literacy assessment in many elementary classrooms. As education reform centers testing and excessive forms of accountability, the running record, designed as a qualitative teaching tool, has instead entered the ranks as a standardized assessment tool, leading to a narrow view of literacy and reductive discourses of reading and readers. Pre-packaged materials saturate the curriculum, and professional learning within schools is centered around training for materials rather than teacher learning. As such, teachers use social media communities to pursue their own learning needs and to collaborate and connect with other teachers. By exploring one such social media group on Facebook, this study employed a discourse theory and queer theory lens to investigate the ways in which teachers take up discussions of running records and how those discussions circulated dominate discourses of schooling, situated within the broader context of neoliberal education politics. The social media group was observed May to December 2022, and I observed 240 posts in the group pertaining to running records. Data analysis included both topic analysis and discourse analysis. Teachers discussed a wide range of topics regarding running records within the group. Queries about how to administer running records were most frequent, which highlighted the de-professionalization of teachers and the framing of teachers as followers of manuals. Questions about customer service for curricular products were also among the most frequent, which highlighted the role capitalism plays as a force in neoliberal education policy and its influence on standardization. Throughout teachers’ posts and the ensuing comments on posts, a discourse analysis of many posts revealed the stealthy ways in which dominant discourses of education circulate in common language throughout the group. This study adds to the still nascent body of research on teacher learning on social media as well as the body of research on teacher education and the field of literacy. Teacher educators, facilitators of professional development, and school and district leaders should be mindful and planful for the reality that many teachers will look for community and “professional learning” on social media. Additionally, they should leverage these opportunities while simultaneously designing learning experiences for teachers that build capacity in teachers rather than assuming teachers lack knowledge and “need training.” Education researchers and state and district leaders should continue to mine social media to further examine teachers and their perspectives on literacy education as it offers windows into the issues teachers are facing and may offer guidance on how to support teachers and their students.

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The introduction of Science Education Standards for the K-12 education system of the United States and those of Bhutan is aimed at providing students with equitable access to quality science instruction and to promote a scientifically literate society. These reforms in education systems require teachers who are well prepared to translate the reform documents, (i.e., Science Standards and curriculum goals) into effective daily classroom instruction. Reform efforts by the states or the federal government involve significant investment of financial and other resources. But all too often the teachers are not prepared to implement reforms in their classroom professional practices due to lack of proper (and timely) professional development and necessary support. To design professional development and educative materials to enable teachers’ implementation of these reform ideas, we need research into the current practices and challenges in implementing reform ideas by pre-service science teachers and in-service science teachers. Science education programs and research has increasingly placed emphasis on the need for sound theoretical models to support educational program development and implementation. This is a case study based on a multi-compartment network model designed to examine aspects of current practices in implementing reform ideas, and furthermore to identify areas of best practices and areas of improvement (e.g., professional practices and interpretation of theories of teaching and learning). The core of the model is grounded in the principles of social constructivism, and the relevant theories and practices guiding teacher education forms the multi-compartments of a network box model that focuses on how the components interact with each other in a teacher education program. It is intended to provide a holistic picture of how the teacher education practices and reform implementation goals interact. This model was initially applied in an investigation of practices of a cohort of pre-service science teachers in a teacher education program in the U.S. This constituted phase one of this research. Subsequently, it also was applied to a pre-service science teacher education in Bhutan. There, the course involved translation of reform ideas into the pre-service teacher’s professional practices, in this latter case science Standards (referred to as Bhutan Goals of Science Education) in Bhutan. In parallel to the U.S.-based study, a cohort of pre-service science teachers in a science education course and relevant expert science teacher educators participated in the Bhutan study. The study was carried out in two separate case studies with distinct contextual characteristics. The U.S. case study part one was designed in some ways to pilot the analytical model. The Bhutan case study part two is an extension of the first study. In both the U.S. and Bhutan study, the pre-service science teachers and expert science teacher educators showed strong degree of coherence in terms of their ranking of the science Standards and their rationale behind the ranking, indicating a certain degree of evidence for a community of practice. However, further inquiry revealed that pre-service science teachers struggled to effectively incorporate Standards in their lesson plans. Furthermore, the findings from the two-part study provide some insights into how this analytical model can be applied to science teacher education engaged in reform implementation, across different institutional and cultural contexts. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence were obtained and analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis methods and qualitative data analysis techniques.

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