The key purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how the social science education subject for the intermediate phase of schooling was conceptualised as a distance education learning material and what learning was intended through this learning process. The process of data collection was presented thematically within three sections. The first section presented data produced through the interview with the author of the learning material for the social science (SS) NPDE module. The second section presented a global analysis of the SS distance learning material. The third section presented a fine-grained analysis of a unit of learning within the history section of the distance learning material for the social science education. The findings of the study revealed that there was an error in the conceptualisation of the social science curriculum as an integration of history and geography. The learning material clearly shows that the construction of the social science distance learning material has clear and distinctive sections of history and geography with no indication of the integration. This study reveals a lack of alignment between curriculum intentions and the conceptualisation and construction of learning materials to support teacher learning. The analysis clearly indicated that pedagogical content knowledge development through distance learning material is minimal. On this basis the researcher proposes that should the intention of the learning programme be on developing teaching skills, then the content of learning materials need to be supported by other appropriate forms of learning. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

This dissertation reports on a study to determine the effects of using the Learn to Read: Reading to Learn approach (R2L), as developed by Dr David Rose, on BCom4 Access Level students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of the approach on learners‘ reading abilities and subsequent ability to write and structure texts according to the conventions required by the particular academic context (genre). Forty-six students who registered for the first year BCom4 Access English Language and Development Programme in 2011 participated. All these students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, where there has been a lack of both access to and a culture of reading. The intention of the intervention, if it proved successful in improving the academic literacy levels of participants, was to recommend the implementation of the R2L approach across the additional disciplines of BCom4. An Action Research approach was used, as well as a Case Study, beginning in February 2011 and ending November 2011. The participating students were taught to read selected texts and scaffolded in independent writing of the texts using the six stages of the R2L teaching cycle. Out of the original 46 students, ten were closely tracked. Various data were collected and analysed during the study period. The data from tracked students included pre- and post-intervention reading assessments; a questionnaire; assessments from written texts in the form of assignments, tests and examinations; and data from a focus group interview. Data collected from the entire study group includes written and verbal feedback concerning the effects of the approach. In addition, feedback from other lecturers within the BCom4 course was also recorded and described. The quantitative findings indicate that reading levels of the students increased between one and three levels over the study period, in keeping with the claims that R2L makes about its own efficacy. Comparisons were made of overall results for term and examination marks over both semesters. These consisted of written assignments and tests. The results showed that there was a general decrease in the marks achieved in the first semester of between 2 and 11% in semester scores and between 5 and 18% in the examination scores. This may have been due to the increase in the level difficulty of writing tasks throughout the year. The written assignments of the students also under-went detailed analysis, which indicated a significant improvement in writing at both the macro and micro levels of text, namely referencing, staging, grammar, spelling and punctuation. On a qualitative level, students and academic staff have noted beneficial effects of the approach in terms of the improvement of the reading and comprehension of texts in English as well as in related disciplines such as economics and mathematics. These findings correlate with R2L claims that it is able to improve the literacy performance of students between two and four levels across a one year period. This improvement is independent of the previous literacy history of students and can be applied across the curriculum, from foundational to tertiary education levels. The implications of these findings lead to recommendations that R2L continue to be developed and adapted for South African conditions and that it should be implemented across all modules within the Bcom4 Access programme at UKZN. In order to achieve its full potential in improving academic literacy, the R2L approach needs to function across the curriculum and not just remain in the domain of foundational or English language educators. The seriousness of the poor educational system in South Africa demands that all educators begin to see themselves as teachers of continued reading, whether their disciplines are Mathematics, Science or English language teaching. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

This thesis formed part of a existing longitudinal study. The overall study is an outcome of research done to understand success and failure issues in Africa, which is an attempt to understand the impact of a short entrepreneurial training programme on the performance of small scale enterprises over time. The study is unique in the South African context in that it is the first short term, 3 days, entrepreneurial training programme that is assessed by means of a longitudinal method incorporating a control group.

Thesis (MPhil)-- Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Today, educators in South Africa must be capable of successfully designing and implementing an outcomes-based curriculum that prepares learners for the world of work. The aim of this study is to determine what kind of groundwork has to be done by history educators to prepare themselves for outcomes-based education and the General Education and Training Phase. The Revised National Curriculum Statement will have far-reaching implications on curriculum development. A thorough knowledge of the principles and theoretical foundation of the process of curriculum development and outcomesbased education is essential to the successful implementation of the directives contained in this document. Dynamic curriculum development is founded on the quality of a thorough design. Educators - the people who use the curriculum - must be closely involved in the content and planning thereof. By implementing the proposed structure and procedures educators will be able to ensure quality control with regard to the successful preparation, implementation and assessment of outcomes-based education. This will also provide continuity in outcomes-based curriculum development. Once the newly designed curriculum has been established, existing school and classroom practices cannot be retained. Appropriate preparation is essential for the comprehensive changes that are taking place. Good management at all levels will prevent a climate of dissatisfaction and resistance from arising during the preparation phase of the curriculum. The real success of curriculum design depends on how it is implemented in the school and the classroom. In this study the emphasis falls on the modular approach to curriculum, with the learning area history as an example. The implementation of the designed curriculum must be continuously assessed. Through curriculum or quality assessment of their operations, services and learning programmes, schools must strive towards applying quality management to the benefit of the educators as well as the learners. It is vital that all educators, also history educators, will offer quality services that are globally competitive. In the final analysis curriculum development is about the learners and the way in which they will benefit from the process. The learners deserve to have a first-rate curriculum. After all, it is the stated aim of outcomes-based education to encourage learners to be successful. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tans moet opvoeders in Suid-Afrika in staat wees om 'n uitkomsgebaseerde kurrikulum, wat leerders voorberei vir die wêreld van werk, suksesvol te ontwerp en te implementeer. Hierdie studie het ten doelom vas te stel watter voorbereiding nodig is om die geskiedenis-opvoeder vir uitkomsgebaseerde onderwys en die Algemene Onderwys- en Opleidingsfase voor te berei. Die Hersiene Nasionale Kurrikulumverklaring gaan verreikende implikasies hê. Om die voorskrifte wat daarin vervat is suksesvol te implementeer, verg 'n deeglike kennis van die beginsels en teoretiese basis van die proses van kurrikulumontwikkeling en uitkomsgebaseerde onderwys. Dinamiese kurrikulumontwikkeling berus op die kwaliteit van 'n deeglike ontwerp. Die inhoud en beplanning van die kurrikulumontwerp mag nie vir kurrikulumgebruikers verlore gaan nie. Deur die voorgestelde struktuur en voorskrifte te implementeer, kan kwaliteitbeheer t.o.v. die latere suksesvolle gereedmaking, implementering en assessering van uitkomsgebaseerde onderwys moontlik gemaak word. Dit verleen ook kontinuïteit aan uitkomsgebaseerde kurrikulumontwikkeling. Ná die nuut-ontwerpe kurrikulum daargestel is, kan bestaande skool- en klaskamerbestuurspraktyke nie bly handhaaf word nie. Behoorlike gereedmaking vir hierdie omvattende veranderinge is nodig. Goeie bestuur op alle vlakke verhoed dat 'n klimaat van ontevredenheid en weerstand tydens die gereedmaking van die kurrikulum ontstaan. Die werklike sukses van kurrikulumontwerp berus op die praktiese implementering daarvan in die skool en klaskamer. Daar word in hierdie studie op die modulêre kurrikulumbenadering gefokus, met geskiedenis as voorbeeld. Die implementering van die ontwerpte kurrikulum moet deurlopend geassesseer word. Deur kurrikulum- of kwaliteitsassessering van hul bedryf, dienste en leerprogramme, moet skole daarna streef om kwaliteitsbestuur tot voordeel van die opvoeders en leerders aan te wend. Dit is belangrik dat alle opvoeders, ook geskiedenis-opvoeders, in skole kwaliteitdienste wat globaal mededingend is lewer. Die leerders is uiteindelik die begin- en eindpunt van kurrikulumontwikkeling. Die leerders verdien 'n kwaliteitkurrikulum. UGO wil leerders immers aanmoedig om suksesvol te wees.

This research investigates the complex nature of caring in relation to women in ministry, in particular when women's roles as carers are subsumed into a patriarchal agenda in the church, with negative effects for women. The thesis explores this as an ethical problem that confronts women, but also those who are training women for the ministry. It proposes that feminist pedagogy provides important insights, tools and analyses which, when incorporated into women's formation, can help to counter these negative tendencies and the way women have internalised them. The findings of the research suggest that a critical ethic of care, which incorporates biblical principles of compassion and justice, is central to the liberating praxis of women in ministry. This has two important consequences: Firstly, it has implications for the women and how they assert themselves as moral agents of critical caring in their ministry. It suggests that in addition to the traditional caring work that women do, women also care when they seek justice by challenging the status quo understandings and practices of caring. In addition, women care when they look after themselves: when they seek healing, when they scrutinise their roles and responsibilities, and in some cases, make decisions not to care. Secondly, a critical ethic of care has implications for theological education at the epistemological, the pedagogical and the practical levels. The findings from the empirical research, based on two case studies of a Women's Studies course, have helped to identify the kinds of changes that are necessary. These include revisioning the theological content that is taught, as well as the teaching methodologies. Changes to the institutional culture and the relationships within it are necessary so that the institutions become more welcoming and hospitable to women. This thesis suggests that educators have an ethical responsibility to prepare women with the necessary knowledge and skills for the difficult, and often uncaring, terrain of their local churches. It concludes by challenging women to take responsibility for inserting themselves into local communities of practice, as a vehicle for their ongoing formation and support once they leave the theological institution. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / DTH (THEOLOGICAL ETHICS)

In this critical evaluation of the National Policy on Religion and Education (Republic of South Africa 2003) , I will invite a multiplicity of voices and opinions from various disciplines and discourses - a Bakhtinian carnival of heteroglossic play . As opposed to the official feast, one might say that carnival celebrated temporary liberation from the prevailing truth and from the established order; it marked the suspension of all hierarchal rank, privileges, norms, and prohibitions. Carnival was the true feast of time, the feast of becoming, change, renewal. It was hostile to all that was immortalised and completed (Bakhtin 1984:10). In this time of postmodern carnival, official 'Truth' is constantly questioned and treated with suspicion and replaced by new and unofficial truths (Scott 1986; Hiebert 2003). God (if not religion) has been proclaimed dead and yet at the same time seems to be more alive than ever. This is a time when 'all the conventional norms and protocols are suspended, as the common life is invaded by a great wave of riotous antinomianism which makes everywhere for bizarre mésalliances' (Scott 1986:6). And the presiding spirit of blasphemy finds its quintessential expression in the ritual of the mock crowning and subsequent decrowning of the carnival king - who is the very antithesis of a real king, since he is in fact often a slave or a jester. In short, everything is topsy-turvy, and the disarray thus engenders an uproarious kind of laughter (Scott 1986:6). In his presidential address to the American Academy of Religion in 1986 titled 'The house of intellect in an age of carnival: some hermeneutical reflections', Scott (1986:7) explores the impact of the "multiplicity and fragmentation and diversity" facing 'the house of intellect', and identifies the challenge of not resorting to the safety of 'any sort of reductionism, [but] how to understand and interpret the multitudinous messages and voices that press in upon us, each clamouring for attention and for pride of place'. After acknowledging the polyphony surrounding Religionswissenschaft on the one hand and on the other hand rejecting any hermeneutical attempts at a 'totalistic' synthesis, Scott proposes moving among the different 'modalities' of interanimation between [the various] modes of discourse' (Ricoeur quoted by Scott 1986:11). Scott (1986:15) closes his address by appealing for continued conversations and dialogue among discourses and 'scatterings' of truth (1986:15) as a hermeneutical method that would take the plurality and heteroglossia of this time in history seriously. This thesis is an attempt - a personal but also a scholarly and academically responsible attempt - to plot many of the voices and contexts that would help to evaluate the specific understanding of the role of the study of religion in the broader contexts of citizenship in a postmodern age where nationalities, nation states and allegiances are constantly in flux and complex. This thesis is also submitted as proof of the validity of my own voice as one of many voices in and surrounding the house of intellect in an age of carnival. / Religious Studies and Arabic) / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies and Arabic)

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the experience of six Foundation Phase teachers implementing the Singapore Mathematics Curriculum (SMC). The study makes use of Kilpatrick, Findell & Swafford‟s (2001) framework for teaching for mathematical proficiency as a conceptual lens to analyse teaching practice in the classroom. The study took place in two schools currently implementing the SMC in East London, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. This qualitative study was framed within an interpretive paradigm. It relies on data collected in semistructured interviews, individual questionnaires, focus group interviews, journals and presentations. In general, the SMC was well received, and the participating teachers isolated the following as particularly positive features of their experience: - The teachers and students were enjoying the discovery of mathematics using a variety of manipulatives as stipulated when using the SMC; - The use of the model method, a specific feature of the SMC, to solve problems helped students visualise the problem; - The teachers‟ understanding of teaching for mathematical proficiency was enhanced; - The spiral curriculum informed teaching practice by allowing for building on to concepts already mastered, creating a logical flow of ideas and careful progression; - Whilst the SMC provides a more structured approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics, it provides constant opportunities for creativity and logical thinking; and - The change in attitude of both students and teachers has resulted in a greater confidence when non-routine, openended problem solving activities are engaged in. From a critical perspective the participants found the following problematic when implementing the SMC: - The teachers felt that there was insufficient drill and practice once the concept was understood. More practice and exercises were called for; - The whole class teaching approach with every student having a textbook and workbook pertaining to the lesson required a change to classroom management; and - To obtain a deeper understanding of number concepts was time consuming and re-teaching the weaker students called for additional time and adjustments to the timetable.

This qualitative study examines the use of Visual Technology for the Autonomous Learning of mathematics (VITALmaths) video clips in three Grade 9 classrooms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, two of which are in well-resourced ex-Model C schools and one in a semi-rural township school. The rapid development of mobile technology, especially in Africa, has opened up previously unexplored avenues in economy, communication and education (Aker & Mbiti, 2010), with a number of mobile learning initiatives being launched in South Africa (Botha & Ford, 2007; Vosloo & Botha, 2009). The VITALmaths project was developed collaboratively between the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland and Rhodes University in South Africa (Linneweber-Lammerskitten, Schäfer and Samson, 2010). As the main platform for dissemination of the video clips is the cell phone, the study looked at the various aspects involved in the use of cell phones by learners in the classroom, as well as the incorporation of the clips into the teaching of three teachers. Consideration was given to whether or not the clips assisted the teachers in teaching, as well as whether or not they encouraged further exploration. The study was divided into six stages during which data was collected and analysed using an interpretive approach throughout. Data collection methods included semistructured interviews, questionnaires, observation, journals and reflective essays. The study revealed the participating teachers, having incorporated the clips into several lessons, found that these had a meaningful effect on their teaching practice, as well as on the engagement of the learners in the lessons. The majority of the learners involved in the study had access to cell phones, either their own or borrowed, and were able to download the video clips onto their phones from the website (www.ru.ac.za/vitalmaths). A number of learners found that the clips helped them find examples of specific mathematical concepts outside of the classroom, thus leading to further enquiry and exploration, while several learners downloaded and viewed additional clips. Overall findings showed that the VITALmaths video clips could be incorporated into teaching with relative ease.

This study was originally undertaken to change and improve the way I do my practice at Walter Sisulu University as a Research Associate whose responsibility is to facilitate research capacity development and research excellence within the University, amongst academics and postgraduate students. The success of the Research Resource Centre that I manage depends on the way I promote research culture and research productivity amongst academics and postgraduate students. According to Leedy and Ormrod (2013, p. 2), research is a systematic process that is used to collect, analyse, and interpret data in order to increase my understanding of the phenomenon about interest and concern about a given/identified phenomenon. In this case my own practice changed and improved for the better. The main objective of this study, therefore, was to examine the reasons behind the decline in research productivity in terms of research output and how this could be reversed through action research study intervention in order to enhance research productivity at Walter Sisulu University (WSU). The Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) allocation of research output units for WSU indicated that there was a decline in research output from 2005 to 2010. The extent to which my practice improvement could contribute towards changing or improving research productivity was a question which this study addressed through a quantitative, qualitative and self-reflective action research cyclic inquiry. I organized sample strategies of this study as follows: For quantitative data, I used 120 lecturers as my respondents through questionnaires (females = 47 and males = 73) who were randomly selected; For qualitative data, I used 24 lecturers as respondents who were randomly selected with whom I conducted interviews; and For self-reflective action research cyclic inquiry I used 7 Transformative Education/al Studies (TES) project group members as my focus group. My research findings concluded that the heavy teaching workload at WSU was problematic and lecturers/academics could not devote time to do research. My recommendation is that research should be made compulsory so that academics become aware that at least one or two published articles are required from them, for the benefit of annual university research productivity. Some research participants also recommended that the Research Resource Centre must include programs that focus directly on active participation in research in order to increase the capacity of individual researchers so as to build a critical mass of competent researchers, perhaps by even including incentives as a reward for doing research. According to Koshy (2010), action research is a specific method of conducting research by professionals and practitioners with the ultimate aim of improving practice. My new knowledge, therefore, in respect of how a concerned Research Associate, from a Historically Disadvantaged Institution (HDI), provided the impetus to create a collaborative practice in a higher education institution which was forced to merge with two former technikons (which lacked understanding of what a university means by research productivity and research output). I consequently developed the Nkosinathi Sotshangane’s cyclic practice improvement model through self-reflective action research, from which I believed other research practitioners could learn by doing something similar in their own context.

This thesis examines tutor feedback on student essays to ascertain the extent to which these responses assist in teaching the academic and specific disciplinary conventions and to determine what is effective feedback and what is not. The investigation constituted an evaluation of a small sample of essays and the framework for this evaluation was developed from a study of current theories of literacy and language teaching. It was further informed by data gathered from interviews with students and tutors and questionnaires completed by them. This was done in order to establish how students interpret and react to feedback and to demonstrate the level of understanding between tutors and students in this mode of communication. The conclusion was that tutor feedback can provide a valuable method for teaching the discourse of the discipline. However, results of the study revealed that communication often breaks down because tutors and students do not share a common language for talking about academic discourse and because students may not have understood the requirements of the task. In addition, the study found that responses to a small group of essays in the lowest mark category and written by second language students, were very inadequate. As the researcher, I concluded that graduate tutors were not well equipped for the task of dealing with these weaker essays. I have made suggestions for future research in this area and I believe that the data from this case study will provide valuable ideas for training tutors for responding to student essays.