Despite some evidence of recognition of more complex approaches, research on assessment reform neglects to address some of the problematic aspects of implementation. Such research may acknowledge discursive dissonance between different actors and the broader interests involved but these are not a central object of study. At the same time, contributions from sociology of education, critical policy scholarship and complexity theory have illuminated some dimensions of assessment reform processes, namely, assessment as a technology of power and as connected to broader ideologies and assessment reform processes as complex, messy, and contradictory in nature. Drawing from these sources, this thesis seeks to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the main systems (with their actors, activities and internal relations) and the main interactions between them involved in assessment reform processes in Chile?; 2) How are discourses on assessment produced, how do they circulate in this system, and how does knowledge on assessment relate to power issues? Given the nature of the problem under scrutiny, critical discourse analysis from a Bakhtinian and Foucauldian perspective is selected as the overarching perspective, with polysystems theory (Even-Zohar, 1990), intertextuality (Fairclough, 2009) and the ideological analysis of discourse (Van Dijk, 1999 and 2008) as the main theoretical tools of analysis. The sources of data are documents as well as interviews with policy authorities and practitioners. The thesis makes a case for situating the study of assessment reforms in the context of three broader dimensions, namely the historical dimension, that incorporates the diachronic dimension of assessment reforms both in the short and the long term; the systemic dimension, related to the processes of production, circulation and consumption of discourses around assessment in a complex web of systems, beliefs, interactions and (power) relationships between their actors, and the ideological dimension. The consideration of this broader framework allows for the inclusion of those aspects that are generally left out of research on assessment reforms, filling a relevant research gap and reconceptualising the field through a more complex approach.

Worldwide educational change has been a topic of discussion. South Africa is among the countries having issues with the implementation of a new curriculum and its impact on effective teaching and learning in junior secondary schools. The country (South Africa) experienced frequent changes in education curriculum. The new curriculum was seen as the means to address poor state of education. It is common knowledge that teachers were and are presently still confused and stressed being unsure on how to apply some techniques to meet the requirements of the new curriculum. That led to underperformance of learners in their work at school. Hence, this study was conducted to explore the perceptions of teachers in South Africa regarding the effects that frequent changes in curriculum has on the effective teaching and learning in junior secondary schools. The change in curriculum is frequent in the sense that, from 1997 to 2016, the curriculum in South Africa was revised four times: Curriculum 2005 (C2005) in 1997, Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) in 2002, National Curriculum Statement (NCS) in 2007 as well as Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in 2012. The study does not leave behind some literatures on concept of education, teaching and learning in junior secondary schools, curriculum in South Africa, an overview of curriculum policy in South Africa, curriculum changes to mention a few. Qualitative research methodology was used by the researcher so as interview participants (teachers) in their workplace. The case study was chosen as the design, whereby two junior secondary schools from the population of schools in Libode district were purposely sampled. Data was collected from teachers in these schools, that is, six teachers from each school. Four teachers from each phase were targeted, that is, (four from foundation phase, four from intermediate phase and four from senior phase). Semi-structured interviews were used as the instrument to collect information from the participants. From the study, the researcher found confusion and frustration due to the frequent changes in curriculum; negative influence on effective teaching and learning, by the fact that teachers ultimately do not know what to do to meet the requirements of the curriculum; and not much continuity or links between phases in as far as content and subjects are concerned. The study recommended the appointment of professional facilitators, revisiting of the language policy in GET band (with focus in LOLT in foundation phase), encouraging continuity across phases, actively involvement of teachers in formulating or drafting of any policy that will affect curriculum since they are the implementers of curriculum. The study established that frequent change in curriculum had negative effects on teaching and in junior secondary schools. This is the perception of the majority of participants. As far as literature regarding teachers is concerned, changing curriculum without changing teachers’ understanding and attitude has negative impact on learning especially in South Africa, with special focus on rural schools such as those of Libode district in the Eastern Cape Province.

M.Ed. / The task of this research report has been to map out the historical experience of the People's Education movement in South Africa from its inception in 1986 to its eventual national closure in March 1995. The People's Education movement under the banner of the NECC had been an endemic part of the education struggles experienced in South Africa, and had played a major role in informing the post-apartheid educational bureaucracy. Its historical role is therefore a significant and essential part of our educational experience. As Wolpe (1991: 77), has said, "the historical significance of People's Education lies in the fact that its conceptions not only challenged all previous conceptions of educational transformations in South Africa, but in so doing, placed on the agenda questions which must constitute the necessary point of departure for the formulation of new policies and strategies under new conditions". The first chapter of this dissertation has demonstrated that the concept of People's Education had been adopted by the oppressed peoples of South Africa in various forms from a very early stage and has therefore not been a new notion. The official launching of the People's Education movement encouraged extreme state repression but despite this, the movement managed to initiate the introduction up of alternative textbooks and the redirection the opposition movement towards a more reconstructive channel. The second chapter of this theses has attempted to trace the experience of the NECC between the years 1986-1990. It was found that the concept of People's Education captured the interests of academics who attempted to make sense of the movement by dissecting and analysing the various terms employed by People's Education. This theoretical analysis did not paralyse the movement in any way. Instead, it revitalised it and enhanced its value. As Carrim (1993) has stated, "Intellectual theorising has been an endemic part of the struggle nationally, as well as within the NECC, and at no time did it paralyse it, rather, it was enhanced and informed by these debates". Theory and practice always compliment each other. The intellectual scrutiny that the People's Education movement experienced was a natural stage in its growth. Without the necessary theoretical debates, many ideas in the People's Education movement would remain unworkable on a practical level. The final chapter of this paper has historisised the People's Education movement during the political transformative years of 1990-1995. It showed that during this time the official banner of People's Education, the NECC, played an instrumental role in the negotiating process and at the same time succeeded in extinguishing numerous crisis situations. Its decision to expand on a national level by incorporating affiliated educational organisations tended to complicate the smooth running of the organisation, and the eventual withdrawal of international

M.Ed. / Education in South Africa has entered into an era of radical changes and transformation. New policies regarding staffing and promotional requirements constitute but a few of the new developments. Despite these changes, however learners still fail, and their future in the labour market seems more and more bleak as teachers find less time under heavier workloads and in ever-larger classes to render them any assistance. In order to assist teachers in helping learners who have failed, it is necessary to lay down guidelines for them to follow. The principal aim of the present study is firstly to determine how failing is viewed by teachers and what measures of assistance are currently being taken in this regard. Secondly, the study is aimed at determining to what extent teachers are prepared to assist these learners and, lastly, at laying down guidelines from an educational-psychological perspective with respect to assisting failing learners. The study comprises a literature study and an empirical study. The literature study is focused on the failing learner and his/her experience of and reaction to failure, as well as on the teacher's role in educating the failing learner. The empirical study is carried out by means of a questionnaire and a statistical analysis of data. Results obtained indicate that teachers, regardless of their sex, years of teaching experience, qualifications, subject field and class size, recognise failing to be a problem at school and that they have a clamant need of guidelines that would assist them in helping failing learners. A need was also expressed for training in how to follow such guidelines.

D.Ed. / The key concepts in this research are "governance " and "transformation". The terms are clarified in terms of the context of this study. Transformation can be seen as a democratising process, a process that involves change for the better and encompasses the following factors: transformation is proactive transformation is coherent and organised transformation is visioned with clear forms transformation has the in-built capacity to address problems transformation builds upon strengths leading to more effective and efficient public delivery This can be applied to the school situation which has been discussed in detail in this chapter. Governance refers to the act or manner of governing namely the act or manner to rule or control with authority. In the school situation, the School Governing Body has been accorded this responsibility by virtue of legislation as enshrined in the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996. School Governing Bodies have been charged with the execution of an array of strategic functions which include: adopting a constitution, formulating a mission statement, formulating religious policies, admission policies, language policies, funding policies, recommending employment of educators and non educators. The development of school governance in South Africa cannot be seen in isolation from the broad policies of the government of the time. The present state of school governance can best be described as a system of decentralisation that has been implemented through a policy of geographical deconcentration. Previous systems of school governance such as the School Management Committees, the PTA's, the PTSA's, had limited or no legislated power and served mainly as fund raising structures for the school. In 1990, State controlled White schools had Model A (private school status), Model B (controlled learner admission —State school), Model C (State Aided school) and Model D (White State schools with Black enrolment). This has changed with the coming in of a democratically elected government in 1994 where School Governing Bodies that have statutory rights manage school governance. These School Governing Bodies represent the aspirations of the parents and the devolution of power to the lowest level, namely the school.

D.Ed. / Die herstrukturering van Tegniese Kolleges tot Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidinginstellings in Gauteng, en in Suid-Afrika as 'n geheel, moet gesien word teen die agtergrond van transformasionele veranderings wat in die hele land plaasvind. Sedert 1994 het die hele land 'n transformasieproses ondergaan nadat 'n nuwe demokratiese regering oorgeneem het en verander het van 'n apartheidstelsel tot 'n verenigde demokratiese samelewing. Onderwys is ook nie onaangeraak gelaat deur die transformasieproses nie. Die hele onderwysstelsel, wat hoer onderwys, algemene onderwys en verdere onderwys insluit, is hierdeur geraak. Die fokus van hierdie navorsing is the Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidingsektor wat Tegniese Kolleges insluit. Met ander woorde, Tegniese Kolleges is net deel van die wyer Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidingsektor. Ander voorsieners van Verdere Onderwys- en Opleiding (VOO) sluit hoerskole wat Grade 10 to 12 aanbied, private voorsieners en indiensopleiers in. Seksie 29 (1) (b) van die Grondwet van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika (SA, 1996) maak voorsiening daarvoor dat almal die reg tot verdere onderwys het wat die staat, waar redelik moontlik, meer en meer sal voorsien en toeganklik sal maak. In 1998 is die VOO Wet No. 98 (SA, 1998) aanvaar wat as die wetlike basis vir die transformasie van die VOO-sektor dien. Hierdie Wet bemagtig onder andere Lede van die Uitvoerende Rade in elk van die nege provinsies van Suid-Afrika om hulle VOO landskappe te herstruktureer. As deel van hierdie proses kon hulle Tegniese Kolleges tot Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidingsinstellings verklaar, laat saamsmelt of sommiges self sluit. Die 33 Tegniese Kolleges in Gauteng is verklaar tot Verdere Onderwys- en Opleidingsinstellings en later het 32 van hierdie kolleges saamgesmelt tot 8 groter kolleges. Om suksesvol te wees het die hele herstruktureringsproses behoorlike bestuur vereis. Die proses is op verskeie vlakke bestuur, naamlik op nasionale, provinsiale en instellingsvlak. Hierdie navorsing ondersoek die bestuur van hierdie herstruktureringsproses.

M.Ed. / Lack of community involvement in the provision of social-environmental education programmes has become a serious problem, even though some communities are aware that they should be involved. In this study an attempt is made to find out how the community is, or could be, involved in the provision of social-environmental education programmes in primary schools, that is, the issue of community involvement in a school's delivery of Environmental Education, focusing especially on social issues. Part of transforming the education system is making it democratic. The democratisation of education includes the idea that stakeholders such as parents, teachers, learners, and members of the community should be able to participate in the activities of schools. Put simply, the right to education and the duty to transform education, means that all stakeholders have new rights and responsibilities. They have rights and responsibilities concerning the way schools are run, and the way in which education takes place. It is the responsibility of the state, the parents, learners, educators, and others to provide the best possible social-environmental education for all learners. The state cannot provide everything and do everything for the school. It cannot afford to do this. Parents and members of school communities are often in the best position to know what their schools really need, and are aware of what problems exist in their schools. This is a meaningful role within the school. Therefore, there must be a partnership between all stakeholders who have an interest in education. The partners are the state, the parents, learners educators, and members of school communities.

M.Ed. (Philosophy of Education) / The topic of the study was the establishment of guidelines for a democratic teaching model in South Africa. The emphasis of the study was placed on the practical implementation and execution of the model within South Africa. The characteristics of a teaching model was clearly spelled out. The normcentred and the childcentred teaching models were furthermore discussed. Although both approaches contain positive elements, neither model meet the educational demands of South Africa. The shortcomings arise from the fact that neither approaches encouraged individualistic and lateral thinking by the pupils. After an evaluation, the democratic approach seems to be the most appropriate to suit the educational needs of South Africa. The democratic characteristics of freedom, equality, constructive communication, responsible leadership and a positive interaction between the pupil, teacher and the community, are a prerequisite in any educational situation. Successful educational realization is only possible if the characteristics of a democracy is prevalent in the educational situation. The democratic teaching model seems to be the most sensitive and appropriate model to satisfy the needs and requirements of education in South Africa.

D.Ed. / The aim of this study was to investigate: the causes, problems and justification of the increase in part-perspectives in faculties of education; the reasons for the apparent disappearance of borders between part-perspectives in Education; and possible criteria for the justification of existing and new part-perspectives and modules. The study showed that the increase in part-perspectives led to various problems in Education, such as: considering the own part-perspective to be more important than other partperspectives; overlapping between part-perspectives; and overemphasising the subdivisions of Education in stead of emphasising the educational phenomenon as the object of investigation. There were not only historical reasons for the diversifying of Education. The difficulties experienced in the structuring of Education were the result of the complex reality of education in a rapid changing society. Contemporary and future trends were therefore taken into account by the researcher because the effectiveness of faculties of education is determined by the manner in which they respond to changes in society. The present stance of the part-perspectives in Education was evaluated in this study in order to find criteria for the justification of existing and new part-perspectives. These criteria can be used as a basis for the possible restructuring of Education. The following criteria were amongst others identified: an educational perspective; demarcation; a clear problem; theoretical accountability; scientific justification; expertise; and a sound curriculum. This study demonstrated the necessity of knowledge of the nature of an educational perspective to enable educationists to evaluate the focus of their part-perspectives from an authentic educational point of view.

Universities in South Africa have emerged from an exceptionally fragmented and divided past and are responding to this by reconceptualising and restructuring their institutional governance structures. This is been done through the introduction of policies and strategies aimed at transforming institutional landscapes and creating environments that are conducive to meeting the demands and pressures of a transformed SA. Previous studies have indicated that there is a need for institutional transformation and change at newly merged universities in SA. However, very little is known about the possible role the arts could play in institutional change and transformation processes and what Badat refers to, when referencing the process of institutional transformation, as “the dissolution of existing social relations and institutions, policies and practices, and their re-creation and consolidation into something substantially new” (2009:456). The goal of this research study is to explore the views, opinions and perceptions of key stakeholders and decision-makers at a comprehensive South African university, in this case, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), in order to gain their insights into the role the arts could play in creating and consolidating a transformative institutional culture at a merged university in SA. The data was obtained from semi-structured interviews with 16 key decision-makers and stakeholders at NMMU. Based on the thematic data analysis, the responses from these key stakeholders indicate that there is wide support for the arts to play a role in the establishment of a transformative institutional culture and it appears that not only should the arts play a role, they should play a central role.