This study's aim was to solicit the beliefs, attitudes and perceptions of the teachers to the implementation of the road safety education programme in the context of curriculum change in five primary schools in the Pietermaritzburg Region. It is the beliefs and the attitudes of the teachers that imply assumptions about curriculum change and implementation that was the major focus of this study. The implementation of the road safety education programme was studied in the context of curriculum change. This was done by using a qualitative research methodology. A case study research method was employed to gather data. Through semi-structured teacher interviews, classroom observations and learner administered questionnaires, the researcher was able to answer the three critical questions of the study. For the analysis of the data, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used. The analysis of the data revealed that despite the teaching and learning constraints that teachers experience in the classroom with implementing curriculum change, they do the best that they can. They implemented the road safety education programme in very innovative and interactive ways. Feedback from teacher interviews regarding the implementation of the road safety education programme, indicated that it was a good programme which was well developed and aligned to the Revised National Curriculum Statement. It was informative and provided learners with a wide range of age appropriate knowledge and expertise to make them safe and responsible road users. This study also revealed the gaps in the literature where road safety education and its implementation, is concerned. This study makes a number of recommendations for successful curriculum implementation in the context of change. Because of the qualitative nature of the data collected it was difficult to establish whether there was, in fact behavioural changes regarding safe and responsible road user behaviour. Therefore the study recommends that more research must be carried out on the implementation of the road safety education programme because this study only represented five primary schools. This study also emphasized the importance of implementing road safety education from grade R to Grade 12 to enhance safe and responsible road user behaviour. This may be useful in reinforcing safe and responsible road user behaviour. Twelve years of road safety education will definitely have a cumulative effect which will be beneficial to the learner. A permanent space must be found in the CAPS school curricula to deliver appropriate and effective road safety education from Grade R to Grade 12. The basic epistemological approach of the research reflects the importance of moving beyond universal truths about implementation as a complex and highly contingent enterprise in which variations is the rule rather than the exception. This study subsequently concluded that the successful implementation of the road safety education programme was dependent on the teacher‟s beliefs, attitudes and perceptions of the innovation. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

An exploratory retrospective study conducted on two differing educational programmes, both of which were for the diploma in community health nursing. The aims of the study were: i) To propose a conceptual framework in order to compare distance learning programmes in community health nursing. ii) To describe and compare two such programmes based on this framework: one content-based and the other community / problem based. The research design used case study methodology, after the development of a model for the education of professional nurses which was derived from literature. The constructs of the model were used as propositions in a case study protocol. The four constructs were each made up of two elements and each element consisted of the poles of a continuum by which that feature in a programme could be identified. The constructs were: a) The Conceptual Programme which included the elements of Base and Structure; Base being either institution or community and structure either content or process. b) The Student with elements of Professional or Personal attributes. Professional attributes were either empowered or disempowered and personal either self directing or passive. c) The Context which had Components and Relationships as elements. The former comprised either limited formal health services or all-embracing health related sectors, whilst the latter specified relationships would either be seen as linkages with unilateral formal communications or partnerships where collegial relations impacted on both parties involved. d) The Concrete Resources included both human and material resources. Human resources were either limited or additional and material either limited or varied. Application of the Conceptual Programme analysis demonstrated that programme A was institution and content based whilst programme B was community / problem (process) based. Programme documentation and student assignment and projects were analyzed in terms of the remaining three constructs. An interview with a tutor for each programme followed after they had read the case reports. A third interview was then held with a key person who had overseen both programmes and read case and interview reports in order to validate both content and the use of the model as framework for analysis. The following trends emerged: i) The content programme was associated with more disempowered and passive students as those were defined in this study. ii) The content programme also used more limited formal health sector settings for learning and in this linkage type relationships dominated although three instances of partnerships did occur, and some community based groups were used by students. iii) The content programme used one tutor per contact session for lectures with students and, cost, in 1991 currency, R150 per student to deliver. iv) The community / problem based programme showed a stronger trend to empowered and self directing students with several clear instances being documented. v) There was a greater variety of settings used for learning in this programme. vi) Several instances of partnership relationships occurred despite the limited contact time between students and communities or health settings. vii) The community / problem-based programme needed two facilitators per contact session at a cost of R1130 (1991) as small group discussions were the main strategy for learning. viii) Student evaluations of both programmes showed that students viewed them in much the same way despite the differences that were found. This indicates that student evaluations on their own provided insufficient evidence about the nature of a programme. ix) The community / problem based programme cost about 20% more to deliver than the content programme out of a total expenditure of R186 000 (1991 value). x) The model was revised to collapse professional and personal attributes into one element and to add another element 'metacognition' to the construct student. 'Access' was also recommended as an additional construct with elements of barriers and supports. This new model needs to be tested and reviewed by peers. The revised model for the education of professional nurses could be a useful yardstick for evaluating existing educational programmes, selecting newly proposed programmes and guiding policy formation. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

The Minister of Education's public statement In August 1999, that South African citizens should mobilize and build an education and training system for the 21'st century . among other things emphasized the application of procedures for recognition of prior learning as part of the restructuring process. On the other hand the resolution taken by the South African nursing Council at the beginning of 2000. that enrolled nurses should be upgraded through the process of recognition of prior learning further increased the urgency for nursing education institutions to develop and implement RPL policies In South Africa, Recognition of Prior learning (RPL)is seen as an appropriate approach to offer equity and redress of past imbalances in the education and training system. The purpose of the study was to develop and test an appropriate model that could be used for Recognition of Prior Learning for nurses. To test the model, it was implemented in a form of pilot projects by three institutions. It was important for the model development to identify and involve all the stakeholders of the nursing education system. An appropriate design for the study was a multiphase decision oriented evaluation research . Stuffelbeam's Context. Input, Process and Product evaluation model was used to guide the research process. The first phase was the development of the model which involved the Context evaluation. During the context evaluation phase, the Education Committee of the South African Nursing Council and the evaluative researcher developed the guidelines for the RPL process. These were refined by the stakeholders during the regional workshops. The results of this phase was the RPL guidelines. The second phase was the Input and the Process evaluations. Each institution had to make planning decisions for Implementation. The result was RPL policies for each institution Thereafter. the three institutions Implemented the RPL guidelines to specific target groups of nurses that were identified for the purpose of the pilot project. Data collection instruments varied according to the phase of the model development. Checklists were used to measure the extent to which each Institution had followed the RPL guidelines Dunng the Product (evaluation) phase. candidates' scores were compared with those of other candidates who accessed the specific programs through the traditional entry routes. According to the results all RPL candidates were successful In the programs they aimed at accessing DUring the testing phase after access, the RPL candidates compared favourably with other the other candidates who accessed the programs through traditional routes . The result indicate that the self- directed approach used during RPL helped the candidates in the actual programs. A process onented and competency- focused model was developed through an inclusive process. Nursing education Institutions and policy makers can use the model to structure and evaluate RPL implementation in nursing education institutions in South Africa. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

This study is situated within a poststructuralist paradigm and uses qualitative methods to examine how teachers map and make sense of intersecting barriers to basic education embedded in their specific schooling contexts and communities, in particular, in a context in which HIV/AIDS prevalence is high. The study examines how teacher constructions of their experiences of teaching in a particular context shape their taken for granted understandings of the intersecting barriers to basic education. In other words, it explored how teachers position themselves within historically constructed discourses about their learners and the community in which they teach, and how these shape their understandings of barriers to basic education. The participants were thirty-six teachers (ten males and twenty six females) from five schools in the Richmond Municipality. Focus group interviews were used to access participants understanding and experiences' of barriers to schooling in the context of HIV and AIDS. Within the focus group sessions, participatory techniques were used as a means of drawing out sensitive information from participants, namely, a ranking exercise and the vulnerability matrix. The findings in the study suggest that the teachers relied on a deficiency framework as a basis for understanding the intersecting barriers to basic education in an HIV and AIDS context. Five key themes relating to this framework emerged: a discourse of detachment; silences; difference as deficit; normalisation discourse; and a discourse of caring. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This research focuses on how Road Safety Education can be incorporated into the Revised National Curriculum Statement in the Further Education and Training Band. Education is based on theories about how learners learn, what influences that learning and what is effective practice. Such theories are based on research. Educational research may be seen as a systematic attempt to gain a better understanding of the educational process, generally with a view to improving its efficiency. Varied view points are obtained when qualified individuals with common or divergent backgrounds are brought together to explore a problem, to provide information or to valuate the merits of a proposition. I chose to interview the Heads of Department of the existing learning areas in order to explore their attitudes and opinions towards the incorporation of Road Safety Education in the Revised National Curriculum Statement. The interview focused on their understanding of this curriculum, implementing it, Road Safety Education and how it can be incorporated into this curriculum. Questionnaires and interviews are a way of getting data about people by asking them rather than by observing and sampling their behaviour. For this study the 50 grade 11 learners were presented with carefully selected and ordered questions in a combination of closed and open form. This enabled the learners to answer freely and fully in their own words and their own frame of reference concerning the incorporation of Road Safety Education in the Revised National Curriculum Statement. This research was prompted by the high fatality rate in the country as a result of road accidents. An in-depth analysis of documents, provided by the KZN Department of Transport, were undertaken. This researcher found that documents provided information about aspects of road safety, proper road usage, and other factors that contribute to the high fatality rates on our roads, aspects that could not be observed because they had taken place before this investigative study had occurred. Each year, publication of the figures for road accidents bring fresh disappointments especially for those who have striven so hard for an improvement. The time has now come for us to recognise that the conventional road safety programmes of the past years are incapable, no matter how delicately applied, of yielding anything but marginal improvements. What is surely needed is some new approach with a potential for huge improvements. Road safety should be about education and not about prosecution. Educational programmes must be undertaken to overcome existing areas of ignorance and to initiate a process of change concerning road safety. It is therefore imperative that the Revised National Curriculum Statement incorporates a comprehensive, compulsory Road Safety Education Programme. / Theses (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu Natal, 2004.

Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

This study focused on foundation phase educators‟ understanding of emotional intelligence and how this understanding influenced their teaching. The concept of emotional intelligence has emerged from the growing realisation that there are factors beyond cognitive performance which contribute to success in life. Emotional intelligence may be described as the recognition and management of emotions in oneself as well as in others. It has been found to be beneficial in a wide variety of settings including that of education. The study was qualitative in nature and was located within the interpretive paradigm. In order to investigate the understanding of the concept by the foundation phase educators and how this understanding impacted their teaching, the data production tools of semi structured interviews, questionnaires and observations were utilised. The findings were analysed and discussed according to themes. The findings revealed that the foundation phase educators had an inadequate understanding of many aspects of emotional intelligence which consequently-impacted their teaching accordingly. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

In this study I am aiming to improve my practice as a Social Justice Educator of educator-students, basing my methodology primarily on Jean McNiff's (2002) approach to self-reflective action-research. The self-reflective action-research requirements mean that the study is necessarily an iterative process. I construct tools from within my praxis that has informed my work as a social justice educator. I apply these tools to the work of students (that has been informed by my praxis) to evaluate how well this same praxis lives up to its purpose. Through the same process I seek to improve the tools with which to better frame and name the praxis, for its improvement. From my own and collective writing, working, learning and reading experiences I have aimed to do this by constructing a Trajectory Model describing an understanding of social justice education to apply to the Self-Reflective Action-Research (SR-AR) Reports of our Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) students. I use this process to draw conclusions about the Trajectory Model and indications of social justice educator practice. The Trajectory Model - containing the Critical Elements for indicating social justice education-praxis - is the model I construct for and in this research - for use in our ongoing developmental praxis as social justice educators. The Trajectory Model, for social justice education, is constructed - and hence understood through - a series of layered models of informing concepts and theories. The Trajectory Model is my attempt to describe the standing; yearning-imagining-dreaming; gazing; seeing; thinking-naming and framing; and doing subjective being for social justice - in a way that is communicable and usable to articulate indicators of what I - in this contextual space, time and community of practice - understand to be critical in being a social justice educator 1. The trajectory Model discussion focuses particularly on three Critical Elements: Position and Stance; Indigenous Knowledge Construction; and Agency and Praxis. They are to be 'read' as being embedded within 'imagination and yearning' for a socially just, non-oppressive society - and they all imply self-reflexivity as an integral aspect of their existence. Thus while there are six numbered elements or aspects in the Trajectory Model, it is the three 'intersecting circles' (of the model diagram) that I name to be the central or Critical Elements - the other three being contextualising or 'embedding' 'aspects' rather than 'elements'. Through this process I came to the following primary conclusions: The method of researching the reports was inadequate for the purpose of drawing any but the most tentative conclusions about growth of social justice practice from the work contained in the reports. However, they proved of some value in students' self-reflections on their own social justice praxis. Through the process of engagement and analysis, indications emerged that the constructed tools have value for the purpose of facilitating analysis and articulation of social justice educator praxis through the provision of a conceptual structure to name and frame the work. This has beneficial implications for social justice educator pedagogical development with regard to both praxis and research possibilities for our community of practice as social justice educators at UKZN in the future. The self-reflexivity and collective engagement of the research process in this study has helped to strengthen my practice as an educator of social justice educators, primarily through improving definition and mapping of critical elements in educating for social justice, as I understand it, in relation to current understandings and practiecs in the literature. 1. The discussion in the Introduction to this study, on the reason for using an alternative set of words to the "dreaming, seeing, being" terminology, pertains. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The aim of this study was to explore the concept of pedagogical content knowledge, or PCK, and its use in the practice of teaching. Teacher knowledge is a significant factor in determining learner gains in all school subjects. However, little is known about the role of the different types of knowledge that teachers are supposed to possess in particular in a developing world context. PCK was introduced by Lee Shulman in 1986 and has since been the subject of much research in teacher education. Pedagogical content knowledge is thought to be a highly specialised form of teacher knowledge that intertwines subject matter (content) knowledge and general pedagogic knowledge. In this study, I examined the levels of PCK of 39 mathematics teachers; I tried to determine how they used PCK in their teaching of mathematics; what determined their PCK; and to what extent PCK influenced the mathematical achievement of their learners. The methodology that I used was lesson observation of 42 video-recorded grade 6 mathematics lessons from various schools in the greater Umgungundlovu district of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. These schools were selected through random stratified sampling to participate in a larger regional achievement study, designed to investigate the factors which influence learning in schools. I was part of a research team that analysed the videos of the mathematics lessons, with the intention of getting the ‘big picture’ of mathematics teaching and learning in South Africa. Using the data from my observations, I developed a PCK instrument and attempted to measure the teachers’ PCK. I then tried to link these PCK scores to other variables in my study, which included a teacher’s test and learner tests. I tested the consistency of my instrument and the teachers’ PCK scores appeared fairly consistent across lessons, but that more research is needed to interrogate that. My initial findings suggested that all teachers possess PCK in some form, though their observed PCK levels were limited. The opportunity to develop proficiency, the use of examples and some engagement with learners’ prior knowledge though mostly in the form of checking homework were the areas most prevalent. The focus was mostly on procedural aspects. Only a minority of the teachers used representations, showed more than one method, displayed longitudinal coherence or engaged in more substantial ways with learner thinking (misconceptions and errors). Crucially, it emerged that a sound teachers’ knowledge of mathematical content was necessary for a high PCK rating, but there was no significant relationship between teachers’ PCK and learner gains in mathematics. It is likely that there are other factors which have a greater impact on learners’ learning than effective teachers, factors such as the socio-economic backgrounds of the learners. Given the random sampling of the schools in the study, and various attempts to ensure consistency in my coding and analysis, I hoped that these results would be valid for the greater KwaZulu-Natal area. However, because I used mainly the video analysis of lessons, and only a part of the teachers’ test, to determine the teachers’ PCK, it is possible that I may not have been able to get the full picture of the teachers’ PCK as I would have if I had also interviewed them.

There have been some fundamental changes to the education system within post apartheid South Africa. Firstly, in the primary school there are some teachers who were trained as specialist teachers before 1994, and some teachers were trained to teach in the new approach called Outcomes Based Education. A new school curriculum within an outcomes based approach was introduced systematically over a decade. This new curriculum required new ways of teaching and organization. One of the significant changes to the schooling structure was the introduction of a phase-based structure, divided into foundation phase, intermediate phase, senior phase and further education phase. Within this new structure of schooling, curriculum policies guided the teaching and learning in each of these phases of schooling. In the primary school, teaching across the subject curriculum was introduced, where teachers were now expected to teach up to as many as 9 subjects to learners in a class. Of concern is that these teachers had specialized in three subjects during their initial training as teachers, and were now expected to teach subjects that they may not have specialized in. When teaching across the curriculum, the mismatch between training and teaching is increased and results in more curriculum and teaching demands being placed on teachers. This mismatch makes it very difficult for experienced teachers to cope with subjects that they are not familiar with. There are no specific qualifications that develop teachers to teach across the curriculum. Qualifications, at most, develop competence in teaching across three school subjects, but the practice of teaching across the curriculum often requires teachers to teach more than three school subjects to a grade. Teachers have specialized in subjects that are different from what they are currently teaching. My study is a focus on narratives of teachers’ experiences teaching across the curriculum in the primary school. I used a qualitative research methodology within the interpretivist paradigm. I used purposeful sampling, where the participants were handpicked. Data was generated through intensive interviews and document analysis. Audio tapes were used to record the participants’ voices, and later retrieved. Data was reconstructed by me, and retained for analysis. The recorded data was analyzed, using codes, themes and categories. v Member checks were used to ensure rigour and trustworthiness. It is evident from this study that teaching across the curriculum requires professional training, ongoing professional development and correct placement in schools to alleviate all the stress and anxiety teachers face in the primary school Teacher training institutions must look at the curriculum and see how best they can assist trainee primary school teachers to fit into a generalist curriculum. This mean that teachers who teach across the curriculum were burdened with more administrative and accountability regimes than other specialist teachers because of the larger number of school subjects that they were responsible for. This administrative overburden is coupled with the greater teaching demands and, therefore, makes it very difficult for these teachers to cope with the workload. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.