<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/staff/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" />In this minithesis I attempt to explain what could be meant by an objective and democratic teacher evaluation system. The central question which I address is whether the current South African teacher evaluation system could lay claim to the kind of objectivity and democracy I develop in my minithesis.

<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/staff/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" />In this minithesis I attempt to explain what could be meant by an objective and democratic teacher evaluation system. The central question which I address is whether the current South African teacher evaluation system could lay claim to the kind of objectivity and democracy I develop in my minithesis.

Magister Educationis - MEd / In this minithesis I attempt to explain what could be meant by an objective and democratic teacher evaluation system. The central question which I address is whether the current South African teacher evaluation system could lay claim to the kind of objectivity and democracy I develop in my minithesis." / South Africa

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The social, political and economic landscape of South Africa, since 1994 has been one of rapid change, where identities and what it means to be a South African have formed critical points of debate. This study used a qualitative methodology to investigate two broad goals: firstly to explore the identities, and influencing factors, of a group of nine young, White, South African student teachers (21-25); and secondly to examine the intersection of social identities and teaching. As a result, this study also investigated how conceptions of identity, including "Whiteness" can have an impact on or influence the professional identities of the participants as young teachers in a multi-cultural and diverse classroom. Selection of participants was based on self-identification as "White", however, by focusing on racial identity in particular this study must acknowledge, as Gunaratnam (2003) does, that it is working both "with and against" race. Two in-depth interviews took place with each participant and two props were used in order to avoid foregrounding race and imposing a definition on the individual respondents. Firstly an "I am" worksheet was used which asked for descriptors; and, secondly, each participant was asked to draw a timeline of their life in response to the question 'What has made you who you are today?" Because of the subjective nature of narrative data, the participants' stories were framed in a broader "landscape" or context. Their narratives were complex and often contradictory, pointing to the fact that researching identities, especially within such a shifting landscape, is always tricky. However, some common themes emerged: social identities as descriptors were avoided, being White in South Africa emerged as different from other contexts such as Europe, race was highlighted in relation to "others" in terms of economic, political and social changes to their worlds and as teachers there was a limited understanding of diversity and broader issues outside of their own experience. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

This thesis reports on a small-scale, qualitative study of learning through teaching in three postgraduate modules in Education at a South African university. In the thesis, I take a narrative self-study stance toward research and pedagogy to explore my lived experience as a novice teacher educator. I illustrate my research journey by tracing the development of my key research question and re-examining my research and curriculum design processes. I use the medium of a ‘narrative self-study research collage’ to represent and engage with a range of data derived from my experience of teaching in the three modules. The thesis makes two unique contributions to the education field. The methodological contribution is the use of a textual collage, which draws on visual and language arts-based approaches to educational research, as a medium for data representation. The creation of the collage and its presentation in this thesis contributes to the ongoing development and exploration of alternative forms of data representation in educational research. The conceptual contribution of the thesis is the conceptualisation of my teaching-learning-researching experience as educative engagement. This conception of educative engagement offers a new way of looking at pedagogy and research in academic teacher education. In addition to these two unique contributions to the field of Education, the thesis adds further understanding and impetus to the growing body of work that seeks to explore and value the teacher self and teachers’ self-study in the context of lived, relational educational experience. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

This auto-ethnographic research emerges from an historical account of my self-understandings, perceptions and intentions, constructed from a journal that was kept of my experiences during the various stages of my development as an art teacher. The study revolves around two pivotal questions: ―How have I come to be the art teacher I am?‖ and ―What are the meanings and definitions that have informed my identity as an art teacher in a multiracial classroom?‖ I draw upon Brian Fay‘s theory of self/false consciousness and show how false consciousness works to liberate the self. It does that through the excavation of different layers of consciousness of self, and offers an understanding of how I came to be and to act in particular situations and moments of crisis. This theoretical position enabled me to understand my struggles as a black, African, male art teacher teaching in a multiracial school. By engaging in an auto-ethnographic approach I am able to reflect on the self through my journals and artworks (paintings, pottery, photographs and poems) and on the impact of critical moments in my life. It provides me with the lens to zoom in and out of my life experiences and understand the meanings (false/borrowed/assimilated) that I took up as a marginalised black African male interested in learning art in a white-dominated world. By adopting a critical stance, this research reveals both personal issues and broader social structures, institutions and processes, and shows how they are intertwined. Firstly, the study offers an analysis of chosen critical moments of my life. Secondly, it presents an understanding of those moments and my part in them. Thirdly, it explores the meanings that I came to adopt in those moments of crisis. Fourthly, it reflects on how this self-searching assisted me to liberate myself from false consciousness as a black African male art teacher. It tries to trace the gradual movement from the prison of my past to my development as a teacher in a South African classroom in a new democratic dispensation. Auto-ethnography provides deeper access to self-understanding, and engaging through this reflective process, I was able to understand and know that educational change can only happen meaningfully if I know and confront my personal and professional meanings and how they have been shaped and continue to inform the choices I make in my classroom daily. As a Black, African, Male, Art Teacher who learnt and lived through the legacy of apartheid, false consciousness was a way of being ‗other‘. The realisation of being ―a coconut‖ (Ferguson: 2006) and the meanings of the art world that went with it, proved liberating. ―Coconut‖ is term referring to a black person who does and acts like a white person. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

This study focuses on the role of the induction programme for teachers who are new to a specific school. The main aim of undertaking this research study is to investigate the role played by principals in the induction of new educators in their schools. The main questions the study addresses are: · Why is it necessary for new educators to be inducted · How could mentoring play a role in an induction programme? · What should the role of the principals be in the induction process? · What should the induction programme include and how should it be implemented? The study highlights the problems new teachers experience with respect to aspects such as classroom control and imparting information. It also emphasizes the role of the principal and the mentor in assisting new educators with these issues. The qualitative approach was used to collect data. Data were collected through interviews and observations. The main findings were that new educators experienced problems with classroom control, discipline and that principals should help them with adjustment in the school by allocating a mentor teacher for support.

Bibliography: pages 279-292. / This study attempts to explore the ways in which Rosalie Van der Gucht influenced and contributed to Speech and Drama education during the second half of this century in the Cape. The writer takes the view that although Van der Gucht was not particularly original in her work - dramatically, socially or politically - she had an impact which is still felt in the Cape Province and beyond, because of her outstanding qualities as a leader, teacher and play director; effected through her special skills as a communicator. The chosen form is a critical biography, which makes it possible to investigate the impact of Van der Gucht's initiatives within the contemporary context. Given that there are only a handful of books which deal with the theatre of this period in the Cape, and they contain few specific references to Van der Gucht; the chief sources for this topic were unpublished written material, and interviews with Van der Gucht's past students, colleagues, friends and relations. Of special importance were Van der Gucht's unsorted collection of papers (bequeathed to the Human Sciences Research Council), the Little Theatre Press Cutting books and the University of Cape Town Archives. In Chapter One the formative influence of her parents, her education, and her first working years in England prior to the Second World War are traced. The following six chapters cover, decade by decade, the period from 1942 to 1971 when Van der Gucht was at the University of Cape Town, training aspirant Speech and Drama teachers, actors, and students taking general Arts degrees. Her influence upon the teacher and actor training courses, including a scrutiny of curriculum developments, is examined; as is her membership of the South African Guild of Speech Teachers and her foundation and leadership of Theatre for Youth which aimed to reach young people beyond the University. Chapter 8 covers the years after her retirement from the University, when she launched upon a second career as a play director, and attempts to pinpoint the chief characteristics of her directing. Chapter 9 deals with the events leading to her death in 1985 - which shed new light on Van der Gucht as a person. The conclusions drawn from this study pertain to Van der Gucht's quality as a person and teacher. The writer takes the paradoxical view that this woman of British origin and education; was, first and foremost, an educator of the traditional kind found in Africa: an oral educator, who used oral material, verbal communication and social situations to inspire and direct those with whom she worked to greater efforts for the benefit of their society, themselves and the discipline of drama. The study is intended to be a useful historical resource for students of drama and the theatre in South Africa.

The overall aim of this research is to probe, and attempt an understanding of, women student teachers' choice of teaching as a career. Because of various limitations, this research is no more than an exploratory study, which, hopefully may contribute to a deeper appreciation of teaching as a worthy career. This researcher's own feminist perspective has determined the questions asked in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative research was undertaken, in order to answer the central question of this research: How do some women students at Edgewood College of Education perceive the teaching profession and their role in it? It became obvious that teaching is perceived by too many as a short term job, rather than as a long-term career; but when circumstances governing teachers' employment, coupled with the influences of a patriarchal society are considered, this perception is perhaps not unexpected. Some tentative recommendations are offered to counter this negative perception of teaching as a convenient, but temporary job for women. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.