M.Ed. / The "hands off' kind of culture by South Africans towards the Environment is a serious concern. However it is encouraging to see that attempts are being made to improve the situation. The Environment and Environmental Education (EE) are receiving some attention in the formal education sector lately. The preservice (PRESET) sector of colleges of education was targeted by this study. This sector comprises teacher educators and teacher designates, it is on the basis of that, that their views were solicited in this attempt of making proposals for and EE curriculum framework for preservice teachers. These important stakeholders' views and expectations were used in making proposals for this Junior Primary Teachers Diploma (JPTD) EE curriculum framework. Essentially the content of such a curriculum framework should help in enviromnentalizing prospective teachers. The literature reviewed indicated that many countries of the world are engaged in the exercise of institutionalizing EE. This matter is receiving attention globally. Local and overseas initiatives have put EE in the forefront of educational discourse. Even though, there is still a lot of ground to be covered before EE can be viewed as having made significant impact in school systems. Indications are that, globally there is still a shortage of properly trained environmental educators. Colleges of Education in the Free State have to double efforts in addressing this problem_ Visits and interviews with Environmental studies lecturers at three (3) colleges of education in the Free State revealed disturbing inconsistencies. Great care was taken when proposals were made. The dictates and stipulations of outcomes based education (OBE) and curriculum 2005 were carefully considered. The proposals for JPTD EE curriculum framework were grounded on the latest trends in education. Flowing from that, this study views environmental educators as facilitators, not dispensers of knowledge. Learners should be enabled to construct knowledge by thinking and doing. Cross-curricular, interdisciplinary and integrated approach is viewed as critical in this study. Teaching and learning should be viewed from and environmental perspective. The success of the proposed EE curriculum framework for JPTD is dependent on colleges' preparedness to undergo fundamental changes. Management and lecturers have to facilitate this paradigm shift, so that permeation of subjects in the curriculum by EE can be implemented. This context compatible EE curriculum framework allows a large degree of flexibility for the colleges to determine how learners achieve specific and critical outcomes. Continuous assessment (CA) and assessment criteria, which take range statements and performance indicators into consideration, are acceptable. Lecturers' discretion is critical in this aspect; rigidity and prescriptions have been avoided. Recommendations by the following instances were carefully considered: Committee On Teacher Education (COTEP). Environmental Education Curriculum Initiative (EECI). Environmental Education Association of South-Africa (EEASA). South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). National Qualification Framework (NQF). Colleges of education in the Free State are faced with the challenge of im

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

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

D.Phil. (Industrial Psychology and People Management) / The aim of this study was to establish the stakeholders’ perception of a Human Resource Development (HRD) intervention. This was prompted by the fact that the Mpumalanga Department of Education (MDoE) has been regarded as one of the provinces that performs poorly on grade 12 results as compared to other provinces. A qualitative methodology was adopted in this study where in 20 participants were interviewed as internal stakeholders in the MDoE. The participants from different categories were purposefully selected from various regions in the MDoE in order to establish their perceptions of a HRD intervention. This study established that the human resource development and training services were not properly managed. This is attributed to shortage of staff, insufficient budget, HRD practitioners’ competencies, inaccurate information keeping and lastly the fact that the recommendations made by the internal auditors were not implemented. Consequently, the researcher ended up constructing an HRD audit process which could assist both private and public sector organization to improve service delivery. The proposed HRD audit process will hopefully ignite interest of scholars to test it, customize or even expand it.

M.Ed. (Tertiary and Adult Education) / The technical teacher often enters the teaching profession via industry. He/she comes to realise that, because he/she is professionally unqualified, the posibilities for the development of his/her career are extremely limited. since 1986 the College of Education of South Africa has made provision for these teachers by offering a course that enables them to gain admission to a Higher Diploma in Education. The study showed that the adult learner differs from the typical bridging course student. Among other things, the CESA bridging course student differs in respect of age and finality of vocational choice, and generally has no particular academic needs requiring academic support. The technical teacher as a bridging course student receives no academic support; neither is he/she offered any course to compensate for underachievement or educational deprivation. The connotation in the term bridging course leads to comparisons with traditional bridging courses, and a change of name for the existing course would be advisable. The bridging course covers the acquisition of additional techical qualifications, thus complying with the reguirements for admission to a Higher Diploma in Education (Technical) . The empirical investigation revealed that these teachers are to a large extent academically under-qualified, almost 74% of them have not been promoted at all, with only 8,2% being granted a single promotion to post level 2. From the research it appears that the bridging course student's course should be adapted in such a way that its completion will enable the teacher to complete both his/her technical and professional qualifications simultaneously. After the successful completion of the course a Teachers Diploma should be awarded.

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

D.Ed. (Adult Education) / A Programme for the professional development of Academic staff at Technikon SA. This research has been undertaken against the background of the contribution that the academic staff at Technikon SA can make in lowering the high drop-out rate of students, delivering high level manpower to the community and the effectiveness of this tertiary distance education institution. After an in-depth study of literature study it became evident that: It students dropping out in distance education is a complex matter and a great number of reasons exist why students do not successfully complete their studies: the responsibilities of lecturers have drastically in distance education; the professional role of distance education lecturers is undefined; professional development of Technikon SA academic staff is neglected; and lecturers have certain needs for professional development which must be identified and addressed. The problem addressed in this study has been to probe into the desirability and the nature of a programme for the professional development of Technikon SA lecturers. The objectives of this study are: It the literature exploration of the nature of and reasons for student drop-out and the professional role of distance education lecturers; the empirical identification and analysis of the developmental areas of Technikon SA lecturers; and to design a programme for the professional development of Technikon SA academic staff. The most important findings of this study are the following: Student drop-out rates can probably be reduced if the necessary student supporting structures are created and established within a distance education institution. Technikon SA as a tertiary distance education institution has developed rapidly over the past 14 years with the emphasis on scientific practice, co-operative education and training, technological practice and rendering of service to the community by delivering high level manpower. The professional role of Technikon SA lecturers comprises: teaching, research. community service and managerial tasks, For effective and efficient execution of these tasks, lecturers should have the necessary skills. There is a definite need for professional development amongst academic staff of distance education institutions which should be addressed by the institution. Empirical research. by means of a questionnaire. as to the importance and frequency of appearance of the tasks was launched amongst the full-time lecturers at Technikon SA and revealed that: lecturers regard teaching and managerial tasks as very important. while research and community service were regarded as not important: and more than 96% of programme for the staff in the form programmes. the group favours the design of a professional development of academic of shorter workshops and self study Findings of the empirical research together with the findings of the sources studied. result in the design of a programme for the professional development of academic staff. After taking various developmental conditions and possible restraining factors into consideration, the programme. based on the QDen systems approach, was developed in five phases. The most important conclusions drawn at the completion of this study are as follows: a definite need for the professional development of academic staff in distance education has been detected: job description of Technikon SA lecturers must be defined and outlined: Technikon SA must deliberately strive to create and establish a research cuIture: and a diplomatic approach towards professional development must be adopted in order to overcome resistance to change

M.Ed. (Adult Education) / Inadequate school education in South Africa has resulted in the maJority of the adult population being illiterate, not possessing the most basic living skills. Recent estimations indicate that only one percent of approximately 15 million illiterate adults in South Africa is presently engaged in basic education programmes. Since education is regarded as a basic human right, Adult Basic Education (ABE) is therefore a priority of the South African government. The provision of large scale, effective ABE programmes in future will depend on the availability of an adequate number of professionally trained and well equiped instructors in ABE. At present very little theoretical background can be provided for training such instructors. The instructors, cum facilitators I are mostly trained informally, haphazard, fragmented and limited to a specific programme. Apart from the general characteristics and needs typical of adult learners, illiterate South African adults have specific characteristics and needs unique to their circumstances. In view of the above, the question posed in this study is as follows: What recommendations can be made' to design a curriculum for a training programme for ABE instructors? Within the framework of a descriptive-interpretative research paradigm, an elaborate literature study forms the background for the empirical research. The recommendations for the training of ABE instructors are made in the form of answers to the following three questions: * Who should be trained as ABE instructors? * What objectives should be achieved by training ABE instructors?i and * How should ABE instructors be trained? According to research individuals should possess certain characteristics, values and attitudes, in order to be trained as ABE instructors. Potential ABE instructors should thus be selected, bearing these attributes in mind. Training objectives should include that instructors be equipped with the knowledge, skills. values and attitudes they need to perform their task as efficiently as possible. The selection of the candidates and/or the knowledge and skills the instructors should be equipped with. is perhaps less important than the way in which they are trained. Research indicates that instructors tend to have two theory types in their repertoires, namely espoused theory and theory- in- action. A training programme for instructors in ABE should serve as an example of espoused theory, also being theory- in-action. Instructors in ABE should be trained as reflective practitioners - learners should thus be empowered to take control of their own learning. This implies that instructors should already be able to exercise control of their own learning.

This research study investigated the ways in which a mathematics module, informed by an enactivist philosophy, enabled pre-service teachers to unpack the reality of their teaching practice in terms of proficient teaching. Given the generally poor mathematics results in South Africa it is not enough for teachers to be merely proficient in Mathematics. They also need to be in a position to explain important mathematical concepts to children in a manner that will encourage and develop an understanding of the basic mathematical concepts. It was my intention with this study to determine whether a mathematics education module, that embraced the underlying themes of enactivism as part of its teaching pedagogy, could have the potential to develop and increase the skills of pre-service teachers’ teaching for proficiency in Mathematics. The mathematics module was underpinned by five themes of enactivism namely: autonomy, embodiment, emergence, sense-making and experience and was designed to supplement the pre-service teachers’ basic skills in Mathematics in the Intermediate Phase. This mathematics module was offered to fourth year pre-service teachers completing a B.Ed. in the Foundation Phase at a private institute specialising in the training of teachers. The theoretical framework was informed by enactivism and how the themes of enactivism could be used as a vehicle to develop teaching proficiency. The study was qualitative in nature and situated within an interpretivist paradigm. The specific perspectives of interpretivism that were used were hermeneutics, phenomenology and reflexivity. The research design was a case study that contained elements of action research and encompassed three phases of data collection. The first phase focused on the pre-service teachers’ approach to teaching Mathematics and what this brought forth in terms of the reality of their teaching practice and the problems they encountered. The second phase undertook to determine what growth and development of teaching proficiency in Mathematics had emerged over the research period. The final phase was undertaken after the pre-service teachers had graduated and were employed as full time teachers in the Intermediate Phase. The analytical framework and lens through which the data was analysed was that of Kilpatrick, Swafford and Findell’s (2001) strands of mathematical proficiency. The argument that I present is that the themes of enactivism did contribute to the growth of the pre-service teachers’ teaching for mathematical proficiency. The themes of embodiment and experience were major contributions in revealing that this was a reality for the pre-service teachers from a practical perspective and was what they would be able to take away with them. However the theme of emergence stood out as the principle that generated the most awareness and growth and which, in turn, affected the participants’ autonomy.

This investigation is primarily concerned with the In-Service Education and Training (INSET) needs of primary school mathematics educators. The research is grounded in the proposition that in order for senior primary mathematics educators to keep abreast with the current knowledge explosion and rapid rate of technological growth, they are under serious obligation to improve their expertise, knowledge and skills in mathematics teaching and learning through INSET. Pre-Service Education and Training (PRESET) serves only as preparation for entry into the teaching profession and cannot last the whole teaching career. INSET is thus necessary for the senior primary mathematics educator’s continuing education. In this investigation an attempt is made at establishing a framework for INSET and mathematics educators. It is hoped that these theoretical frameworks will enable mathematics educators to cope with the changing needs of senior primary mathematics education. There is no doubt that the developments of senior primary mathematics education and INSET in the United Kingdom can have a profound effect on the senior primary mathematics education in South Africa. The extent to which the developments in the United Kingdom influences the educational initiatives presently being undertaken in South Africa will depend upon those who teach senior primary mathematics and those who are responsible for the provision of INSET of senior primary mathematics educators. The past South African discriminatory policies led to numerous iniquities in the provision of mathematics materials and development of mathematical human resources. Consequently, there is a large number of unqualified and under-qualified mathematics educators especially amongst Blacks in South Africa. It is through INSET that this condition can be rectified. A questionnaire survey revealed that senior primary mathematics educators are fully conscious of the importance and significance of INSET. The recommendations made for the INSET of primary school mathematics educators based on the literature survey and the empirical investigation are: the need to establish a national and provincial policy for the INSET of primary school mathematics educators; there must be a concerted effort to establish school focused INSET; many of the methods of INSET courses emphasizing the participative approach needs to be explored; the value of teachers’ centres as exciting brokers for new ideas and as networks for personnel proves invaluable and finally, pivotal to the INSET of primary school mathematics educators is the need for them to update their in-depth knowledge of mathematics. There is no doubt that the INSET of primary school mathematics educators is a crucial factor in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). It is clear from this research that INSET for both academic and professional upgrading of the senior primary mathematics educators and the improvement of mathematics teaching and learning I the primary school is only limited by one’s imagination. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted