Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Education, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / In this study I have explored scientific insights towards establishing how the biochemistry of the human being could have a significant impact on human learning in a number of different ways. I have discovered that the biochemistry within the whole human being is triggered by the molecules of emotion occurring in a psychosomatic network active throughout the whole being. The molecules of emotion are neuropeptides such as endorphins, linked to their receptors, such as opiate receptors. This triggering of the molecules of emotion constitutes the pleasure principle which enables and encourages learning. In addition, the growth of myelin ensheathing all the neurons, through a process of myelination, also informs human learning biochemically. These biochemical processes make human learning ‘active’. These biochemical processes also constitute a network of subtle energies operating in the viscera of all human beings, and so account for the anthropology of learning, viz. what is common to all human learning, regardless of ethnic group, language, economic circumstances, religious belief system, level of education, social class, age, gender, rural or urban location, inter alia. I have then drawn on my own learning experiences – my autobiography - and the experiences of others – an autoethnography - for evidence of the operation of the biochemistry in my and their learning. I have presented evidence of the emotions of joy, love and fun activating whole-being-learning that occurs in all of personal, spiritual and educational human learning. I have described my living spiritual and living educational theory as one where human learning happens when there is joy-filled love and love-filled joy within a safe community of practice. Within this safe community of practice, at least three aspects are argued to be features of whole-being-learning:  the relationships between the learners, their teachers and the subject are characterised by joy-filled love and love filled joy.  the talents and gifts of both the learners and the teachers are explored, celebrated, and used for inclusive benefit.  the knowledges of, about, and between, learners and teachers become integrated and coherent. My original contributions to the body of scholarly knowledge evidenced by my study include the following :  I have established the link between human learning as a biochemical process and the efficiency of games as a learning tool, thereby showing the link between learning and fun.  I have explored the holistic, organic intrinsic connections between personal, spiritual and educational human learning.  I have contributed to a growing understanding of the study of self as a subject and object in terms of my ways of human knowing (my epistemology), my ways of being human (my ontology) and my values (my axiology) which (in)form my attitudes of joy-filled love and love filled joy in all that I do.

This study examines the ethical beliefs and behaviors of full-time community college faculty. Respondents report to what degree they practice sixty-two behaviors as teachers and whether they believe the behaviors to be ethical. Survey participants engaged in few of the behaviors, and only reported two actions as ethical: (1) accepting inexpensive gifts from students and (2) teaching values or ethics. The participants reported diverse responses to questions about behavior of a sexual nature, but most agreed that sexual relationships with students or colleagues at the same, higher or lower rank were unethical. Additional findings relate to the presence of diversity among the faculty, using school resources to publish textbooks and external publications, selling goods to students, and an expansive list of other behaviors. Findings of this study are compared to results from earlier studies that utilized the same or similar survey instrument with teaching faculty. The study has implications for organizational policy and procedure, for faculty training and development, the teaching of ethics or values in the classroom and for future research.

Through everyday classroom interactions, teachers influence their students' actions and the choices those students will make in life. Such interactions may have profound impact on the students and their well-being, whether teachers are cognizant of their influence as role models and moral educators or not. Morally sensitive teachers are better equipped to perceive, or become aware of, those classroom interactions that have direct implications for students' well-being. As well, such teachers have the ability to interpret influential aspects of teacher-student interactions in moral terms. Previous research and theory in psychology, philosophy, and curriculum development is in accord in suggesting that moral sensitivity is an area of interest and concern to practicing teachers, and that teachers' preparedness to face the challenges of classroom interactions by advancing their moral sensitivity can contribute to a betterment of education and a better care for students' lives. In Study 1, three sources of knowledge on moral sensitivity were utilized in order to develop a comprehensive measure of teachers' sensitivity to the moral dimension of schooling. Those three sources included: (a) the teachers' professional code of ethics, (b) findings from observations of the moral life of classrooms, and (c) a moral issues questionnaire developed as part of Study 1 to collect practicing teachers' testimonials of issues and stories they perceived as having moral meaning. A triangulation method was utilized to validate the already established notions of morally significant aspects of teaching on the one hand, and to extend the understanding of teachers' situatedness in the moral context of schools on the other. After carefully analyzing the information obtained from the three sources, at the end of Study 1 an open-ended semi-structured questionnaire was developed. In Study 2, the Teachers' Concerns Questionnaire (TCQ) was developed and validated as a measure of high school teachers' moral sensitivity. The TCQ comprises four stories revolving around teacher-student interactions, each accompanied by a series . of seven prompt questions guiding the process of identifying the issues of concern in the scenario, as well as individuals affected by the issues, and any action that might need to be taken in response to the depicted interactions. Each story corresponds with four categories of moral issues, and the overall score of moral sensitivity is derived from the number of categories in which issues of concern are identified along with affected parties and proposed solutions, and justification for their inclusion on moral grounds is provided. The overall results provide initial support for the relativity and validity of the TCQ as a measure of secondary school teachers' moral sensitivity. The TCQ exhibited a very high inter-rater reliability and a moderately high test-retest reliability. A significant and positive correlation was found between the TCQ and a measure of moral reasoning, as well as a positive correlation between the TCQ and a measure of verbal fluency. Areas of future improvement include shortening the time required to complete the measure and developing an alternative format that would allow self-scoring or automatic scoring by a computer. Directions for future studies are discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

M. Tech. Public Management / The aim of this research is to test different opinions of whether there are instances of unethical and corrupt activities in Academic higher educational institutions in South Africa and to also discover the types of unethical behaviour and corruption taking place if any, in order to come-up with remedial measures. The participants in this research are the academic and administrative personnel. Participants are aware of what is expected of them by management within their different academic higher educational institutions. They can be able to detect instances of unethical and corrupt acts by their colleagues and these will allow them to make a valuable contribution in this research.

This thesis is entitled “Fostering collective teacher efficacy through values-based leadership in Ethiopian institutions of higher education”, which is delimited to the private universities. The main question was “What constitutes/determines the institutionalisation of values-based leadership (VBL) to foster collective teacher efficacy (CTE) in the context of Ethiopian private universities (EPrUs)?” The sub-questions were: 1) what does the current state of CTE and its perceived outcomes look like in EPrUs? 2) What sets of behaviours are desired to institutionalise VBL so as to foster CTE in EPrUs? 3) What are the institutional contexts required to institutionalise VBL so as to foster CTE in EPrUs? In addressing these issues, academic leaders, students and teachers from EPrUs participated in the study. As methods of data gathering both the survey method and interviews were used. Results revealed that CTE is not high enough in EPrUs and hence it needs to be fostered so as to bring the desired change in students’ learning. To foster this, institutionalisation of VBL is required that involves two inter-related aspects. The first one is about institutionalising desired values (behaviours), which are linked to the academic leaders’ yearning for positive sets of values and the teachers’ moral contract to their professional values. To this effect, the positive sets of values that academic leaders should yearn for and the sets of values that teachers should espouse as their professional values are explored. The commonalities between these values are also described and how these would be institutionalised is suggested. The values include integrity and trustworthiness, humility/selflessness, compassion and sense of gratitude, accountability and self-discipline, sense of collaboration and teamwork, and envisioning in leadership as the driving force. The second aspect is about institutionalising the contexts conducive to foster CTE and VBL support behaviours. The need to institutionalise those behaviours and contexts arise out of the perceived leadership gap (between what the teachers believe are the leadership priorities of the leaders and the behaviours they actually see in the leaders). This gap has been linked to CTE, and hence a model has been developed that would foster this efficacy. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)