published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

This thesis examines the dimensions of user engagement with an online forum on British Columbia's new policy on educational technology. Contributors to this site included elementary and secondary schoolteachers, distance educators, parents, students, researchers, BC Teachers' Federation staff and officers of the Ministry of Education. In the main, they did not respond to Ministry documents directly. Analysis of the site discussions reveals that participants mostly used the forum to debate the principles o f teaching and learning with technology. While many messages included collegial expressions of support, others revealed the political, ideological and pedagogical boundaries between the various education sectors in BC. In follow-up interviews, participants reported that the discussions were often fragmented and hard to follow, that it was virtually impossible to tell i f anyone else was listening, and what the impact of their contributions was. They were conscious of their professional status and uncomfortable about not knowing the size or identity of their audience, which included the Ministry of Education (BC). From the interview data I argue that the forum did not significantly increase public contributions to policy debate. However, while they acknowledged the shortcomings of the medium, participants still agreed that a forum of this kind was a valuable feature of their professional and political landscapes. In conclusion, I argue that different users differed enormously in their expectations of what the site offered, what their contribution might be and how such a site contributed to the realm of policy discussion at large. The political and educational agendas of those who did participate remained separate, fragmented and occasionally conflicting. The terms of engagement and motivation, as well as the shortcomings of this type of discussion, form the subject of this analysis. The conclusions reached here are critical to understanding the potential of this new medium for encouraging greater dialogue around political and professional issues in education and other fields. Finally, I argue that, i f the Ministry of Education could show a more effective listening presence, the texts which are produced on a future site would be more likely to answer their policy consultation needs.

This study investigated the suitability of adopting a learning outcomes approach as a strategy for educational reform in British Columbia's colleges and university colleges. It focused on the views of institutional and department administrators during the initial implementation phase through a questionnaire (n=313), interviews (n=58) and the analysis of provincial documents. Study participants had varied reactions to a learning outcomes approach ranging from strong support to overt resistance. Proponents viewed it as a philosophical shift from teaching to learning involving themes such as transparency, integrated curricula, holistic curricula, and a learner-centered focus. However, many viewed learning outcomes as being similar to their current approach. Opponents viewed the approach as being too simplistic, too limiting and unsupported by evidence. Its central position in the reform agenda was questioned. The barriers to its implementation included competing priorities, lack of resources, faculty workload, organizational culture, pedagogical issues, concerns about the vocationalization of postsecondary education and its perceived relationship to the provincial government's accountability movement. Approximately one third of respondents who had made changes identified them as valuable to their programs and courses. However, respondents from academic areas had less involvement, less interest in integration and perceived it as less valuable than respondents from applied areas. The value of the approach resonated at the theoretical level, but often disappeared in the practice context particularly at the course level. It was viewed as being particularly valuable in applied areas, but was most often described as a refinement. The learning outcomes approach was too abstract to provide a vision for reform. While there have been changes in specific courses and programs, the policy did not have a provincial impact from a pedagogical or accountability perspective. The term has been integrated into many organizational documents, but it is unclear if these changes translated into more relevant learning experiences or more valid assessment approaches. The discussions generated about best practices have been the greatest impact of the policy. It forced faculty members to challenge and defend their educational practices. This may be the ultimate legacy of the learning outcomes policy in British Columbia.

I conducted a case study at Multisite (a pseudonym), an established community college that is becoming a university college. I explored and attempted to understand (a) the organizational culture, and (b) how faculty members interpret this transition. I conducted prolonged observations and interviews with 39 faculty members. I explored the culture by means of what I label the themes of family, of participation, and of institutional mission. I also explored it using multiple perspectives, especially a fragmentation perspective (Martin, 1992). I used the metaphor of a kaleidoscope to signify shared frames of reference without consensus on meanings. I modified Geertz' (1973) sensemaking perspectives and developed a framework. It entails three elements: (i) a perspective, (ii) a symbol or issue, and (iii) the interpretation of (ii) within (i). It is consistent with Weick's (1995) description of organizational sensemaking. An individual may focus on (a) traditional (e.g., communal and participatory) cultural values, (b) emergent (e.g., academic) cultural values, or (c) pragmatic interests. The interpretation may be positive, negative, neutral, or postponed, depending on the perceived status of the cultural value or of the pragmatic issue. Interpretations seem not to be associated directly with objective characteristics, such as length of service, program affiliation, or academic credentials attained. Fragmented meaning systems are associated with fragmented interpretations; fragmented interpretations are associated with fragmented patterns of organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Faculty who use a traditional cultural perspective indicate that they or their colleagues retain their level of commitment or have lost it, according to whether traditional values seem retained or lost. If they are uncertain what will happen to traditional values, they are uncertain whether they or their colleagues will remain engaged. Faculty who use an emergent cultural perspective indicate an increased job satisfaction; they may indicate decreased organizational commitment. Faculty who use a pragmatic perspective may see the transition positively and express enthusiasm for their work; they may see it negatively and express low levels of organizational commitment. I suggest that factors in the external environment have precipitated changes in organizational values which, in turn, have precipitated changes in organizational commitment and job satisfaction.

<p>This thesis was undertaken as an empirical study which focused on curriculum implementation in a remote geographical region in post-apartheid South Africa, known as the Overberg. The identity basis on which teachers receive and implement CUrriculum 2005 in the Overberg region, served as the cenrtal focus for undertaking this study. Accordingly, it was found that the personal, ontological, contextual, training, professional and pedagogical influences have had an impact on the composition of the identity basis of teachers in the Overberg region. The teachers received and implemented Curriculum 2005 in the light of the impact of their prior identities.</p>

This thesis traces and analyses the dynamics of policy formulation and implementation in South Africa over the past two decades and attempts to identify the possibilities for democratic processes to change an unequal and multi-tiered education system. The study suggests that what has been missing from most analysis of transitional policymaking in South Africa is a careful examination of social class, and particularly how and why social movements and social actors on the ground, who were initially central to policy formulation and critique, became largely marginalised once policies were institutionalised. The trajectory of the latter trend, related to the class nature of the post–apartheid state and the political economy of the transition from apartheid to democracy is explored in detail in several of the chapters that comprise this thesis. The thesis builds an argument around class, political economy and community participation situated in critical education policy analysis as the theoretical approach. Critical policy analysis views the terrain of the state and therefore policy formulation processes as spaces of contestation and negotiation. It also allows insight beyond the symptoms of educational inequality and dysfunctionality and shows connectivity between education policy and social relations of power. The major characteristics of an ‘evaluative’ case study which combines description, explanation and judgement is employed in the study of the Education Rights Project. Such a methodological approach allows for reflection on the generation of extant post-apartheid education policy and its implementation. Various chapters provide an account of how communities can use research to document violations of education rights and claim their rights which in turn also provide insights into the complex nature of democratisation of education and formal policy making arrangements. The thesis also demonstrates how experiences of transformational education and activism actively seek to disrupt the dichotomies between formal and informal educational arrangements, the public and private spheres, and cultural and political spaces. The role of local education activism in South Africa has been relatively under researched and largely ignored by mainstream education policy theorists; this thesis attempts to rectify this gap in South African education scholarship. One of the questions explored is whether the elision of social class analysis and meaningful community participation in education policy deliberations has contributed to the failure in addressing and overcoming the profound inequalities and social cleavages that characterise the South African education system. Relatedly, this thesis examines the critical role of community, civil society and social movements in policy critique and development. The study also focuses on issues impacting on the implementation of the right to basic education through formal policy and legislative frameworks and whether these fall short of the needs of people living in South Africa as well as the constitutional imprimatur around the fulfilment of their potential. The thesis suggests that educational reforms should be accompanied by a wider range of redistributive strategies, democratic participation, political will and clear choices about the social ends policy interventions seek to achieve. These issues are prompted by other framing questions such as does the right to education impact on the development of democracy and social transformation in South Africa, what are the obstacles and impediments to the fulfilment of educational rights and what is the relationship between the state and civil society in educational policymaking and the meaning of this relationship for the establishment of democracy in education? / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

A three-phased, cross-sectional study was conducted in the nursing schools in two Arab Gulf countries (the UAE and Bahrain) to assess the process of change in Nursing education. The illuminative approach to evaluation using a case study design was used. Different methods were utilized to collect data, namely interviews, documentary analysis and self-administered questionnaires. In the initial phase of the study, the directors of the Schools of Nursing were involved. A theoretical sample of a wide range of tutors, students and counselors was included. The interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview format. Seventeen faculty members from Bahrain, and seventeen from two institutes of nursing in the UAE, namely Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, were interviewed. Students were interviewed from three academic levels of the program. Thirteen students in Bahrain and nineteen in the UAE participated in the interviews. The N-Vivo qualitative program was used to analyze the qualitative interviews. In the second phase of the study, all faculty who taught case-based courses in Bahrain and the UAE were asked to participate in the study; 24 from the UAE and 30 from Bahrain. A 20% random sample of students from the three academic levels in the UAE and 25% from the two academic levels in Bahrain was used. Sixty-four students from the UAE and forty-six from Bahrain answered the self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire used data extrapolated from the qualitative interviews. The SPSS (version 11) was used to analyze the self-administered questionnaire. T-test and correlation tests were employed at this stage to analyze data. In both countries, innovation attributes, especially complexity and incompatibility with the students' and the faculty's background, were perceived by both faculty and students as hindering the dissemination of innovation. In both countries a strong training program that tackled concerns of both old and new faculty members was lacking. Planning for a sustainable system and team approach to change was lacking in both countries to varying degrees. Differences were noted between the UAE and Bahrain in the introduction and implementation of change. The UAE faculty perceived their involvement in the choice of a case-based curriculum as a major facilitating factor. Other factors perceived by the UAE faculty as facilitating the process of change were the planned series of workshops, involvement of the faculty in decision-making and the secondment of an external expert during the implementation of the innovation. The Bahrain faculty perceived the leadership style of forcing change as deterring the process of change. The institutional context, the lack of planning, the lack of a common meaning of change among faculty and other stakeholders, and the lack of structured professional development program were other factors perceived as hindering change. The study led to the development of a framework for introducing educational change in the Arab Gulf region. It is hoped that the framework would help decision-makers and leaders of educational institutions understand change better and be able to introduce and monitor change effectively. The major recommendations tackled developing a continuing staff development program, building multidisciplinary teams, planning and monitoring the change process and establishing a common meaning of change from the beginning of any change. Conducting further research on the perceptions of key political stakeholder towards change and researching the managerial practices of nursing leaders could serve as an initial step towards the validation of the suggested framework. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

In this dissertation I provide the results of research on this topic. The struggles of African learners over the years are traced from apartheid to the post-apartheid era by establishing the gap between policy formulation and implementation. The study contrasts the challenges faced by African learners under apartheid education and those faced by learners in the new educational dispensation due to difficulties associated with non mother tongue education and those due to the monocultural schools that have little or no experience with diverse cultures. The findings are that learners who are not taught in the medium of their mother tongue do experience several forms of discrimination, racism and can lead to learners not maximize their academic potential. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2005.