Higher education institutions across the globe have been confronted with a series of complex changes. These include changes in management style and structure, increased competitveness, mergers with other institutions, changes in working conditions, increases in student numbers in the context of decreased expenditure per student, higher student-staff ratios, modularization of courses, and the introduction of quality monitoring systems. Tertiary institutions in South Africa are experiencing a similar transformation that is necessary because of changes in the political, economic, technological and social environments. As a result of these transformations support staffs operating within such environments are likely to experience a sense of powerlessness, to report feelings of anxiety and insecurity, including a lack of confidence in their abilities and uncertainty about their future in their organisations, resulting in occupational stress and strain. Possible uncertainties that these same employees may be faced with are lack of job security, decreased career prestige and professional recognition, scarcity of resources, difficulty in understanding the changing values of the organisation, increased centralisation of authority, increased bureaucracy and an increased demand for accountability. Many tertiary education support staff will now be involved in greater interaction with other people, either students or co-workers and would therefore be more vulnerable to occupational stress and strain. Furthermore the workload of support staff is increasing and the nature of the support work is changing. Support personnel groups are being asked to take on more duties and do work for a greater number of people. They are also required to use new technology, sometimes without adequate training, resulting in high stress levels. It is well documented that high levels of occupational stress, if left unchecked and unmanaged, undermine the quality of employees' health, wellbeing and morale, as well as a reduction in productivity and creativity. Therefore the objectives of this research are to determine the levels of occupational stress and strain of support staff at a higher education institution in the North-West province, to investigate possible demographic differences and to determine whether perceived organizational commitment moderates the effect of occupational stress and strain. A stratified sample (N= 3 15) of support staff at a higher education institution in the North-West province was taken. The ASSET Organisational Stress Screening Tool was used as measuring instrument. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the results. The results of the study showed that the support staff has fairly poor physical and psychological health indicating that support staff experience stress-related strain which could be mainly attributed to their work relationships and job characteristics respectively. The levels of the stress were relatively low, while high levels of both individual commitment to the organisation and perceived commitment from the organisation were found. Furthermore, differences in terms of occupational stress levels were found for different biographical groups. Practically significant positive relationships were found for job security, job characteristics and control. This means that in order for employees to feel secure about their jobs, they need to have perceived control over the aspects of their jobs. Work relationships were significantly related to job characteristics, overload and control which means that employee's relationships with others depended to a large extent on the element of control that they have of their jobs and the amount of work that they have. Contrary to the findings in the literature, organisational commitment did not moderate the occupational stress-strain relationship of support staff in the present study. Organisational commitment was significantly negatively related to occupational stress, while occupational stress was significantly positively related to ill-health (strain). Occupational stress explained 18% of the variance in ill-health (strain) and 23% of the variance in organisational commitment. Recommendations for the organisation and future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

A new era dawned for the higher education system in South Africa, after approval was announced by Cabinet regarding the final proposals for the restructuring of the higher education institutional landscape in December 2002, which required merging to take place between various higher educational institutions. Mergers are intrinsically stressful for employees due to the potential for change and loss, as well as the perceived decline in the organisation and a highly competitive labour market. A stable and productive higher education system is of fundamental importance to any country to ensure continuous development at economic, social and political level, hence the importance of this research. The objectives of this study were to establish the relationship between job insecurity, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, burnout, and work engagement of personnel (N = 83) after an incorporation of two tertiary educational institutions, and to determine whether job insecurity can be used to predict job satisfaction, organisational commitment, burnout, and work engagement. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The study population included both academic and non-academic staff members of the two institutions. Job insecurity was found to be practically significantly related to a reduction in intrinsic job satisfaction. No statistically significant relationship was found between job insecurity and extrinsic job satisfaction, between job insecurity and organisational commitment, and between job insecurity and the exhaustion component of burnout. Job insecurity was found to be practically significantly related to increased levels of cynicism and decreased levels of work engagement. Regression analyses, controlling for the influence of demographic variables, indicated that job insecurity held predictive value with regard to intrinsic job satisfaction (lo%), cynicism (7%), vigour (l8%), dedication (7%) and absorption (10%). / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

Higher education institutions across the globe have been confronted with a series of complex changes. These include changes in management style and structure, increased competitveness, mergers with other institutions, changes in working conditions, increases in student numbers in the context of decreased expenditure per student, higher student-staff ratios, modularization of courses, and the introduction of quality monitoring systems. Tertiary institutions in South Africa are experiencing a similar transformation that is necessary because of changes in the political, economic, technological and social environments. As a result of these transformations support staffs operating within such environments are likely to experience a sense of powerlessness, to report feelings of anxiety and insecurity, including a lack of confidence in their abilities and uncertainty about their future in their organisations, resulting in occupational stress and strain. Possible uncertainties that these same employees may be faced with are lack of job security, decreased career prestige and professional recognition, scarcity of resources, difficulty in understanding the changing values of the organisation, increased centralisation of authority, increased bureaucracy and an increased demand for accountability. Many tertiary education support staff will now be involved in greater interaction with other people, either students or co-workers and would therefore be more vulnerable to occupational stress and strain. Furthermore the workload of support staff is increasing and the nature of the support work is changing. Support personnel groups are being asked to take on more duties and do work for a greater number of people. They are also required to use new technology, sometimes without adequate training, resulting in high stress levels. It is well documented that high levels of occupational stress, if left unchecked and unmanaged, undermine the quality of employees' health, wellbeing and morale, as well as a reduction in productivity and creativity. Therefore the objectives of this research are to determine the levels of occupational stress and strain of support staff at a higher education institution in the North-West province, to investigate possible demographic differences and to determine whether perceived organizational commitment moderates the effect of occupational stress and strain. A stratified sample (N= 3 15) of support staff at a higher education institution in the North-West province was taken. The ASSET Organisational Stress Screening Tool was used as measuring instrument. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the results. The results of the study showed that the support staff has fairly poor physical and psychological health indicating that support staff experience stress-related strain which could be mainly attributed to their work relationships and job characteristics respectively. The levels of the stress were relatively low, while high levels of both individual commitment to the organisation and perceived commitment from the organisation were found. Furthermore, differences in terms of occupational stress levels were found for different biographical groups. Practically significant positive relationships were found for job security, job characteristics and control. This means that in order for employees to feel secure about their jobs, they need to have perceived control over the aspects of their jobs. Work relationships were significantly related to job characteristics, overload and control which means that employee's relationships with others depended to a large extent on the element of control that they have of their jobs and the amount of work that they have. Contrary to the findings in the literature, organisational commitment did not moderate the occupational stress-strain relationship of support staff in the present study. Organisational commitment was significantly negatively related to occupational stress, while occupational stress was significantly positively related to ill-health (strain). Occupational stress explained 18% of the variance in ill-health (strain) and 23% of the variance in organisational commitment. Recommendations for the organisation and future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

A new era dawned for the higher education system in South Africa, after approval was announced by Cabinet regarding the final proposals for the restructuring of the higher education institutional landscape in December 2002, which required merging to take place between various higher educational institutions. Mergers are intrinsically stressful for employees due to the potential for change and loss, as well as the perceived decline in the organisation and a highly competitive labour market. A stable and productive higher education system is of fundamental importance to any country to ensure continuous development at economic, social and political level, hence the importance of this research. The objectives of this study were to establish the relationship between job insecurity, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, burnout, and work engagement of personnel (N = 83) after an incorporation of two tertiary educational institutions, and to determine whether job insecurity can be used to predict job satisfaction, organisational commitment, burnout, and work engagement. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The study population included both academic and non-academic staff members of the two institutions. Job insecurity was found to be practically significantly related to a reduction in intrinsic job satisfaction. No statistically significant relationship was found between job insecurity and extrinsic job satisfaction, between job insecurity and organisational commitment, and between job insecurity and the exhaustion component of burnout. Job insecurity was found to be practically significantly related to increased levels of cynicism and decreased levels of work engagement. Regression analyses, controlling for the influence of demographic variables, indicated that job insecurity held predictive value with regard to intrinsic job satisfaction (lo%), cynicism (7%), vigour (l8%), dedication (7%) and absorption (10%). / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka internatskolepojkar i Kenyas inställning till kvinnor somvidareutbildar sig på tertiär nivå ur ett globalt, nationellt och personligt perspektiv. Frågeställningarnavar: ”Hur resonerar pojkarna kring kvinnor som utbildar sig på högskolenivå ur ett globalt, nationellt ochpersonligt perspektiv?”, ”Hur formuleras jämställdhetsfrågor i gymnasieskolans läroplan och Vision2030-målen och hur kan det relateras till pojkarnas uppfattningar om kvinnor med högre utbildning?”samt ”Hur kan man förstå pojkarnas resonemang i dessa frågor?”. Sex pojkar intervjuades för studiengenom ett bekvämlighetsurval, och två styrdokument valdes (även de av bekvämlighetsskäl) för enlitteraturstudie.Pojkarna ansåg alla att det var av godo att kvinnor vidareutbildade sig eftersom det var ett sätt för bådevärlden och Kenya att använda sig av hela befolkningens intellektuella kapital. De personliga motivenfokuserade främst på att en högutbildad fru innebar att man kan hjälpas åt i försörjningen av familjenmen också för att man blir mer samspelta i sitt äktenskap. Två av pojkarna hävdade att det låg hög socialstatus i att ha en välutbildad fru. Dock var flera av pojkarna överens om att en kvinna inte ska vara högreutbildad än sin make eftersom det då verkar som att hon är familjeöverhuvudet. Den med högstutbildning var alltså den som åtnjöt mest makt i äktenskapet.Pojkarnas åsikter går att förklara genom mödrarnas höga utbildningsnivå som gjort dem vana vidvälutbildade kvinnor, de kom från höginkomst- eller medelinkomsttagarfamiljer som alltså var beroendeav penninginkomster snarare än jordbruk och de var en del av en mer tillåtande kultur som hänger ihopmed att bo i stad. I styrdokumenten så fokuserades det mycket på nationell enighet snarare än på genus,men det som fanns var främst angående jämlikhet snarare än jämställdhet. / This study aims to investigate the attitude of Kenyan boarding school boys in secondary schoolregarding higher education for women from a global, national and personal perspective. The questionsasked were: “How does the boys reason regarding higher education for women from a global, nationaland personal perspective?”, “How are gender equality issues expressed in the syllabus and Vision 2030aims?” and lastly “How can the boy’s reasoning be understood regarding these opinions?”. Six boyswere interviewed and two documents regulating the management of the school were chosen for a literarystudy, both from a convenience selection.The boys believed that it was a good thing for Kenya and for the world as a whole that women studied atuniversities since that enabled the usage of the intellectual assets of the entire population. The personalmotives were focused on the fact that the woman could provide an extra income for the family, but alsothat a highly educated wife meant that they as a couple could interact on a more even level intellectually.Two of the boys meant that a highly educated wife meant a higher social status. Several of the boysagreed that the wife should not have a higher education than her husband since that meant that sheseemed to be the head of the family. The person with the highest level of education in the family is thusthe one with the most power in the marriage.The boys’ opinions could be explained by their own mother’s high level of education which made themaccustomed to highly educated women, they were all from high income or medium income families whowere more dependent on monetary income rather than farming, and lastly they were part of a moreaccepting culture that’s connected to city life. In the school management documents, there was morefocus on national unity rather than gender, but what was there was primarily regarding gender parityrather than gender equality.

Australia's tertiary educational environment is changing; in the past decade, it has faced a new set of challenges and pressures (Cunningham et al., 1998) that are encroaching on the traditional definitions of what higher education is. These challenges often dictate the directions in which the tertiary education environment evolves into. Within the framework of institutional reforms, the adopted policies are often the best indicators of that transition. Flexible delivery or learning has been espoused as a means of meeting and mediating some of those challenges. With their emphasis on catering to the needs and expectations of the consumer in a consumerist society, flexible policies are becoming the norm in most institutes of higher learning. However, of interest within the structure of the flexible delivery approach is the development of learner management systems (LMS). The question is what are learner management systems? What do they represent and what do they offer to the learner that differentiates it from the traditional forms of learning? In its basic form, a learner management system is essentially a series of processes that are developed and organised so as to efficiently provide the learner with the required access and interaction required to facilitate his or her learning. However, what are the benefits of being aware of the capabilities and limitations afforded by such approaches? How does it contribute to the process of teaching and learning in the context of higher education? The effectiveness of how these learner management systems are used in context to its application in multimedia programmes is of importance. Institutions are progressively introducing similar learning systems into their delivery framework. The question as to whether a singular adaptive system or a customised option remains to be tested.

Selection for tertiary education, defined as including both higher education and technical education at post-secondary level, becomes an important issue where the number of applicants exceeds the number of places. This thesis explores selection for tertiary education as a complex problem in which selection processes are shaped by and must fit with the educational context. A general systems model is developed to guide the analysis of this problem. The model situates procedural and technical aspects of selection within a broader context including fundamental policy issues of control and equity, social values and structures, and background historical and cultural factors. Many countries have experienced selection pressures in recent times. These pressures have included increasing unmet demand, increasing diversity of applicants and increasing diversity in secondary education. It has been suggested that only through case studies of particular countries can an understanding of different systems be developed. This study offers such a case study focussing on the Australian state of Queensland. Queensland offers aspects which are typical of Australia as a whole, especially in terms of enrolment trends. Each state and territory in Australia has a different interface between secondary and tertiary education. In Queensland, an important feature of this interface was the abolition of university entry examinations in the early 1970s, as a result of the Radford Review, and their replacement by a system of school-based assessment. This innovation is situated within its historical context and analysed as a paradigm shift. Implications are drawn concerning the processes of educational and institutional change. Technical issues in comparing and aggregating achievement measures are also examined in relation to the type of data provided by school-based assessment in Queensland. The evolution of moderation and scaling of achievement data in Queensland is analysed and a distinction drawn between comparability and equivalence, the former relating to within-subject comparisons, the latter to between-subject comparisons. A taxonomy of different scaling approaches is developed and distinctions among these approaches explored. It is shown that appropriate choice of approach depends on the assumptions and requirements of the context and not just on technical efficiency. A distinction is also drawn between strategies for equitable comparison of achievement information and equitable strategies for making selection decisions. A major review of tertiary selection procedures, the Viviani Review, occurred in Queensland in 1990. This review is analysed in detail in terms of its processes, recommendations and implementation. It is shown how this review consolidated the system of school-based assessment and represented a paradigm shift concerning both achievement information and selection strategies. Possibilities for future development inherent in the new paradigm are discussed. The analyses of both the Radford Review and the Viviani Review illustrate the general systems model by showing how tertiary selection is a complex issue in which procedural and technical issues need to be situated within the broader context. Four themes emerge from the analysis of the Radford Review and are evident in the Viviani Review: the trend towards democratisation of educational decision processes; the trend towards greater openness, diversity and choice; the tension between local and central control of assessment decisions; and the tension between evolution (gradual change) and revolution (paradigm change). Criteria for evaluating selection systems are identified and applied to the Queensland system, resulting in conclusions about its degree of success. From the case study, general issues of significance for all tertiary selection systems are identified and discussed: the changing demography of secondary and tertiary education; reforms in senior secondary school curriculum and assessment; the issue of control (responsibility and accountability); the issue of equity (access and comparability); the choice and combination of information in selection decisions; and alternative views of the admissions process. Conclusions are also drawn about the management of change and the management of stability. Finally, it is concluded that all evaluations and analyses of selection systems need to adopt a systems approach in which the complex interactions among various factors are taken into consideration.

This qualitative, ethnographic case study explores the professional development opportunities for teachers of adults in Pakistan in order to understand how these are currently experienced and what changes can be made to make them more effective. / This study took place mainly in Lahore, Pakistan. The study engaged six practitioners from different colleges, universities and government education departments: three teachers of adults, two professional development providers, and a professional development designer. Their perspectives were gathered in their indigenous languages - Urdu and Punjabi - using semi-structured interviews. The data collected was analysed using a Miles and Huberman (1994) style matrix which revealed five themes: unhappiness, school-based provision, social learning as the pedagogy, personalised generic teaching skill formation, and evaluation. These themes were explored to produce results which were used to generate a model of effective professional development. The results of this study indicated that teachers of adults, in Pakistan, wanting for change in their professional development practices, believe in school-based provision of professional development with social and reflective learning as the pedagogy. / Accordingly, this study contributes to the understanding of teachers of adults’ professional development needs, the types of professional support that they need, and how these should function within their own workplaces in Pakistan.

This thesis explored the measurement of performance of New Zealand tertiary education institutions (TEIs) and the demand for their services. This involved analysing the research performance of New Zealand universities, analysing the productive efficiency of New Zealand TEIs and examining the choice of provider by bachelor’s degree starters. Bibliometric data was used to measure the research productivity of New Zealand universities. This showed that following a fall during the early 2000s, the research productivity of New Zealand universities increased following the introduction of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF). A multi-dimensional analysis of university research performance between 2000 and 2005 showed that no individual university was top in all four of the performance measures assessed. The overall performance of three universities, Massey University, Lincoln University and Auckland University of Technology, were noticeably below that of the other five universities. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was then applied to input and output data of New Zealand TEIs to analyse their productive efficiency. In 2006, polytechnics that had: low levels of bachelor’s degree provision, were not regionally based, had a high proportion of subcontracting and were larger institutions, achieved higher levels of pure technical efficiency. The analysis showed that several polytechnics could improve their technical efficiency by reducing their scale of operations. In polytechnics, higher technical efficiency was associated with better financial performance. A number of technically efficient polytechnics struggled financially, indicating that the overall efficiency of the polytechnic sector was not high, or the funding model they operate under is not appropriate. The analysis also showed that decreasing bachelor’s degree provision, poor financial performance in the previous year, an increase in provision of community education, was associated with higher growth in total factor productivity between 1996 and 2006. The application of DEA to Australasian university data between 1997 and 2005 showed that New Zealand universities performed relatively well in terms of relative pure technical efficiency, compared with their Australian counterparts. However, the total factor productivity of New Zealand universities increased at a lower rate, on average, than that of the Australian Group of Eight and newer Australian universities. The application of DEA to a dataset of the participating TEIs in the PBRF showed that polytechnics had lower technical efficiency, on average, than other TEIs. The choices of bachelor’s degree starters in 2006 were analysed for evidence of a lack of parity of esteem between university and polytechnic degrees. The results showed that a lack of parity of esteem between polytechnic and university degrees may be influencing student choices. Students from higher deciles schools, with higher secondary school qualifications, Asians, students who travel for study, were all more likely to enrol in a university to start a bachelor’s degree. There was less clear cut evidence of a lack of parity of esteem between selected groupings of New Zealand universities. However, there did appear to be a lack of parity of esteem between the four older metropolitan universities and the two newest universities, with signs the former were held in higher esteem.

Diploma thesis deals with education and development of students with special educational needs in tertiary education. The aim of the thesis is to analyze documents that are related to education of people with special needs and to compare a supporting system setting at individual universities. The thesis is based not only on professional literature knowledge, both world and Czech, but also on a research that has been done at chosen universities. The research part includes content analysis, which systematically describes contents of special education documents, and compares the supporting system setting at selected universities, which is extended by interviews with the head workers of consulting centers. KEYWORDS Evaluation, school management, tertiary education, handicap, inclusion.