M.Ed. (Didactics) / In this study attention is paid to the use of technical college student evaluators of teaching..Specia! attention is focused on certain factors which influence students in their evaluation of the teaching skills of lecturers. The problem addressed, is the vital role played by vocational training in South Africa as a developing country. In the light of the acute shortage of skilled manpOwer, it is essential that vocational training, as practised at technical colleges, should function optiIllally. Lecturers at technical colleges can play an important role in this resPect and what is needed is a willingness on the part of both lecturers and organisations responsible for vocational training, to optimalise effective teaching and the concomitant successful learning by students. The aim of this study centres round an overview of literature regarding methods of teaching evaluation as applied locally and internationally, the identification of the possible influence of certain factors on the evaluation by students and the e,d:ent 1;0 which these factors apply ~o male and female students of different seniority levels at six technical colleges. In the study of relevant Literature , attention is paid to the aim and function of technical colleges. Certain indicators of effective teaching, as well as teaching evaluation are dealt with and special attention is paid to self evaluation, peer evaluation and evaluation by means of objectives. Evaluation of teaching by students is investigated in depth, together with factors which influence students in" their evaluation of teaching, such as humour, sex of student and lecturer, seniority of students, class siZe, enthusiasm and course content. The research group consists of full-time N4, NS and N6 technical and commercial students at six technical colleges on the witwatersrand and in the Pretoria area. The lecturers teaching these students are evaluated by means of a questionnaire.

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

M.Ed. / Unfortunately, many teachers seem not to be aware of the role played by emotions, especially the negative ones, in the teaching and learning situation. As a result, many teachers attribute poor scholastic performance indiscriminately to either laziness or stupidity ( Pringle, 1986: 77) and other factors that are exclusive of emotional problems. Because of these negative attitudes, children with emotional problems may find it difficult to learn effectively. If teachers are, therefore, not trained to teach children with emotional problems, children's learning and overall development may continue to suffer. A secure emotional base is a pre-requisite for effective learning (Winkley, 1996: 1-2 ). A learner whose emotional life is taken care of, stands a better chance of making academic progress over those who are emotionally deprived or abused.Teachers, therefore, need to be equipped with knowledge of the children's emotional life, especially the strategies for teaching children with emotional and behavioural problems. This knowledge is of vital importance if their attitudes towards children with emotional and behavioural problems is to be changed to the benefit of these children, because knowledge forms part of beliefs and beliefs are the cornerstone of attitudes ( Hewstone, Stroebe, Codol, & Stephen, 1988: 143 ). Successful learning may be enhanced by identifying the unproductive attitudes held by teachers and by inculcating positive ones by equipping them with knowledge about the emotional states of children with emotional and behavioural problems. Against this background, the problem to be researched in this study can be stated as follows : What knowledge do teachers have with regard to emotional and behavioural problems of learners? What are the perceived causes of emotional and behavioural problems in learners, and what are the attitudes of teachers with regard to these learners? What guidelines can be developed for teachers in order to enhance their teaching of these learners?

M.Cur. (Professional Nursing Science: Nursing Education) / The Nursing Strategy for South Africa calls for nursing colleges to increase the intake of new nursing students by 25% without the proportional increase of nurse educators. This has created an unacceptable increase in the number of nursing students leading to increased workload of nurse educators. Other compounding problems that relate to classroom teaching, clinical, personal and organization, hinder performance and contribute to the frustration of the nurse educator. The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the factors influencing nurse educators’ teaching and learning performance at a nursing college in Gauteng in order to develop supporting strategies to improve their performance in teaching and learning. The research design is qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to select a sample of 12 nurse educators to participate in individual semi-structured interviews. A qualitative open coding data analysis method was used. To ensure the trustworthiness of the study, the researcher used Lincoln and Guba’s four criteria and strategies of establishing the trustworthiness of qualitative data namely credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. Four main themes and sub-themes emerged as follows: (1) Large student numbers - difficulty in recognizing students as individuals and identifying ‘at-risk’ students, difficulty in managing a large class, concerns about quality of nursing students in a large class, content-delivery process is a challenge in a large class; (2) Language and cultural barriers - language barrier and diverse cultural groups of students in one class; (3) Competence of nurse educators - inadequate knowledge / subject didactics, ineffective skills and negative attitude and inappropriate values; and (4) Ineffective management practices - inadequate orientation and mentoring and lack of human and material resources. The themes and sub-themes were conceptualized within the relevant literature and supporting strategies to improve nurse educators’ teaching and learning performance were described. Recommendations were made with regard to nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research.

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

A minor dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master in Education Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand / As a prescribed Grade 12 IEB (Independent Exams Board) English Home Language (HL) text, Absolution written by Patrick Flanery (2012) has proven to be a very difficult text to teach. It is for this reason that I have chosen to conduct research into the various ways that Grade 12 teachers have approached the teaching of this novel. In my experience as a Grade 12 English teacher my engagement with a vast variety of IEB prescribed English texts has been wholly accessible to learners and teachers, offering complete engagement and understanding of the various concepts explored within each text. As IEB (Independent Exams Board) prescribed English texts remain prescribed for the duration of two years, each year provides an opportunity to further develop my experience in conveying the nuances relating to theme, character and style. In my experience, such a process has always been achievable, satisfying and highly rewarding; however the option to select Absolution as the Grade 12 English Home Language set text for 2015 and 2016 presented challenges due to the complexities of both style and content inherent in this text. The unusually dense nature of this text has made it extremely difficult for Grade 12 learners to engage with the novel in a profound way. It is for this reason that I would like to conduct research into the methods and underlying models for teaching literature that IEB English teachers have used when approaching the teaching of this specific text in their Grade 12 English classrooms. Drawing on the models for teaching literature as first proposed by Ronald Carter and Michael Long (1991) as well as Gillian Lazar (1993), various teacher approaches will be investigated. Using a qualitative method of research, questionnaires were completed by two teachers from an independent school for girls and three teachers from an independent school for boys. Focused group interviews were conducted with one teacher from each of the schools as a way of clarifying certain responses to the questionnaire that was initially completed. Careful analysis of the data provided through both the questionnaire and the focused group interview, led to the conclusion that understanding literary theory as well as the context in which the novel is set is fundamental in allowing for an intensive study of the novel as well as a clear understanding of the nuances contained within the novel. / Andrew Chakane 2021

Includes bibliography. / The primary aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of primary school teachers in ordinary classrooms towards learners with low to medium special educational needs, and to discover under what conditions, if any, they would be willing to accommodate these learners in their classrooms. It was hypothesized that teachers are not willing to accept these students without considerable support. The secondary aim of the study was to explore individual teachers' reservations about mainstreaming and methods by which these concerns could be overcome. A research design and methodology incorporating both a quantitative and a qualitative dimension was used. The sample consisted of 113 teachers drawn from six primary schools in the broader Cape Town area. Two schools were included from each of the three ex-Education Departments. A questionnaire based on the Classroom Integration Inventory (Paul, Turnbull and Cruikshank, 1977) was developed and administered to the teachers. This provided the data for the primary investigation. The data for the secondary investigation was collected by means of semi-structured interviews which were conducted with the respondents who were least willing to accept learners with special educational needs. Contrary to the literature, the quantitative results of this study indicated that primary school teachers generally had positive attitudes towards mainstreaming learners with special educational needs. The qualitative analysis outcomes revealed that class size, a lack of skills, and the additional time and work which would be involved, were the most prominent concerns. Suggestions offered to overcome these reservations included decreased class sizes and in-service training. These findings were similar to those in the literature. This investigation was considered to be important as a policy of progressive mainstreaming is a currently debated proposal for the South African education crisis. The support of the ordinary classroom teachers would be vital for such educational reform to succeed. Although the quantitative results indicated a favourable response to mainstreaming, the data were gathered by means of questionnaires depicting a hypothetical situation, and some teachers may have supplied "politically correct" responses. Thus it was recommended that this finding be supported by further investigation.

Bibliography: pages 181-186. / The study recorded in this dissertation was undertaken in the School of Education at the University of Cape Town (UCT) during the period 1986-1990. It was motivated by perceived anomalies in the administration of State regulations for endorsement of teachers' diplomas in respect of ability in English (E/e). The study commences with an analysis of the relevant requirements of the regulations for teacher bilingualism, as set out in sections 10 and 11 of Criteria for the Evaluation of South African Qualifications for Employment in Education, 1988. Theoretical and practical problems of evaluation and endorsement identified at UCT are considered in relation to the concept of test failure, as opposed to testee failure. Responses to a questionnaire sent to other teacher training centres indicate similar concerns elsewhere. Arising from a review of recent literature on language testing, and against the background of the multilingual target groups tested at UCT, a proposition is put forward for a distinction between communicative competence and language proficiency as criteria in language assessment, depending on whether English is the medium (communicative competence), or the subject (proficiency), of instruction. Assuming that English will remain a medium of instruction in a changing socio-political dispensation, at least in the short and medium terms, the study then focuses on test design, construction and scoring, where the objective is to test communicative competence in English, rather than proficiency. The role of English in the curriculum in a future South Africa is discussed briefly. It is concluded that current regulations for language endorsement are in urgent need of review. The following recommendations are made in this regard: that the relevant requirements for teachers in State schools be reformulated to account for one level, rather than two, of endorsement in English as the medium of instruction; that such endorsement be required only in the case of non-English medium graduates, thereby recognising the integrity of the English medium teachers' diploma itself; that procedures for assessment for the purpose of diploma endorsement be standardised; and that the State support further research in this area.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Educ. Psych.)) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013 / ABSTRACT The aim in doing this study was to consider what research reports about efficacious teachers and the extent of their locus of control. Teacher Efficacy and Locus of Control was evaluated as part of the teacher’s personal characteristics. Specifically, individuals with a high self-efficacy and internal locus of control believe that outcomes are a result of their own actions. Individuals possessing low self-efficacy and an external locus of control will conclude that external factors of which they had no control, such as luck, contributed to the specific outcome. Research shows that efficacious teachers are capable of changing learners’ attitudes about school, increasing their motivation to learn, and boosting academic achievement. Teachers provide school education and teacher efficiency is reflected in the teaching process and practice. Teacher effectiveness ultimately determines the success of long lasting learning in the classroom. Teachers’ successes are also displayed in learner outcomes. The role of the teacher is to teach his or her learners through interacting with them and to provide an ultimate learning climate. During this interaction, there are various factors that affect the effectiveness of the teacher. Some of these factors, amongst others, include influences of the environment, learner attitudes, the status of the teaching profession and utmost the teacher’s personal characteristics. Combined with teacher personal qualities, teaching will pursue an educational perspective for the development of such learners that will perform to societal expectations, demonstrating comprehensive academic skills for the promotion of quality education. The study ascertained the perceived levels of Teacher Efficacy and Locus of Control with regard to classroom teaching among Further Education and Training (FET) teachers in the Lejweleputswa district inclusive of the underlying reasons for the latter. As a result, this study attempted to outline the challenges facing education in South Africa today. Applied Teacher Efficacy and Locus of Control will enhance teaching and learning in our schools and; simultaneously, elevate our schools to a status of our education system in South Africa to a competitive edge internationally. This study followed a concurrent explanatory approach whereby a quantitative analysis was followed by a qualitative approach. The data was thus integrated to lend itself to reliability and validity. Various tests were done in this regard complimented by tests of normality and homoscedasticity. The analysis of results was taken on a ‘step-down’ approach where the researcher conducted Multivariate analysis (MANOVA) tests, Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests, t-tests and item analysis for the purpose of further explanation. Statistical significance was substantiated by practical significance through item analysis and qualitative analysis of results. Although levels of Teacher Efficacy and Locus of Control statistically satisfied the desired outcome, item analysis indicated that extraneous variables were present, impinging on these levels. These variables, inclusive of job satisfaction, training programmes, parental involvement and leaving the teaching profession, amongst others, were discussed as part of the results of the study. Significant variations were found in the different age groups of teachers whereby the researcher in addition analysed ‘age’ as an independent variable to the study. This study recommends revisiting of essential aspects pertaining to the teacher and the educational environment that will facilitate effective functioning of the teacher workforce, complimenting levels of teacher efficacy and locus of control.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Technology: Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / The literacy levels in South African schools are alarmingly low. Educators are challenged in diverse classrooms with multicultural and multilingual learners as they are faced with the problems that these learners are experiencing in literacy. Educators therefore need to be able to adapt their teaching strategies to suit the needs of their learners to address learners’ different learning needs and styles. This study investigated the use of adapted teaching strategies used by grade 3 educators in literacy in selected schools in northern KwaZulu-Natal. A mixed methods research design was used which included the use of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to gather data. The findings which were linked to the literature review revealed that educators lacked adequate knowledge and skills to adapt their teaching strategies as they have not been adequately trained to teach literacy within multilingual contexts. Although some educators were using adapted teaching strategies they were not using them effectively in their multilingual classrooms while some educators did not have a wellstructured intervention programme at school to deal with learners who were experiencing problems with literacy. Inexperienced educators also had problems identifying learning styles and adapting their teaching strategies. This study found that teachers require continual professional development to enable them to effectively adapt their teaching strategies to suit individual learning needs and styles.