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Mini-dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Management at the University of Zululand, 2010. / The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of development appraisal system and views of educators on the new model. Relevant literature was reviewed in order to determine the nature of development appraisal and to determine educator’s views on appraisals in developing countries. The subject of this study was 100 primary educators from primary and secondary schools in Bhekuzulu circuit in Vryheid district. The empirical investigation that was conducted revealed that a variety of appraisal models emphasized, amongst others that have been identified, teacher development as the main purpose of an appraisal. A positive attitude towards the implementation of appraisals and effectiveness in doing so realized the essence of goals of appraisal. The study revealed that appraisal can bring about renewal of classroom teaching, improve relationships with learners, and induce openness and sharing of ideas and problems. The empirical investigation revealed that most respondents have been appraised and that they realized the importance of this model. The following major findings emerged from the empirical investigation: Most educators had been appraised and that they realized the importance of developmental appraisal. In South Africa, development appraisal represented the paradigm shift away from traditional appraisal system. Development appraisals emphasise quality of education and assist in monitoring school objectives.

Quality assurance in schools and in higher education has been a growth industry for many years, with all kinds of agencies being funded. With apparently endless growth in education at all levels, with insistent demands on more resources, the political pressures in ensuring value for money have increased. This study explores the perceptions of teachers, students and senior administrators ofquality assurance in secondary schools (ages about 15-18 in Bahrain) in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Here, there is an established system of quality assurance but there is a general feeling of unrest that all is not well in the way quality assurance has developed.The overall aim is to enhance quality assurance in Bahrain, based on sound pedagogical evidence. This study provides an overview of quality assurance in secondary schools in Bahrain with the teachers, students and senior staff. This aims to look at the way secondary education is offered in Bahrain, to explore possible ways to enhance educational provision and, where possible, to look for any evidence that Quality Assurance has improved quality.This study has aimed to gain an overall view of what is happening in secondary education in Bahrain and to identify areas which need further attention. The approach has been very much focussed on the learner.The first experiment seeks to find out how some key stakeholders see present provision in secondary education (ages 15-18) in Bahrain. The aim is to gain an overview of perceptions and to identify areas where there are issues to be addressed. This study describes two surveys which were conducted with 793 students and 793 teachers related particularly to their perceptions. 23 senior staff in the Ministry of Education and Quality Assurance Authority in Kingdom of Bahrain were also interviewed individually in order to gain more information about their perceptions of quality assurance in the Kingdom. It is very evident that the pictures painted by the students, their teachers and those in educational leadership are very different. In particular, the educational leadership standout in offering very different perspectives. It is, therefore, obvious that there is little shared agenda other than an overall wish for educational quality, but what is meant by this is not even clear. There is a clear message that the educational leadership needs to consult and listen more to teachers and students if any shared agenda is to be reached. Perhaps, the teachers have a better insight into reality while the students must take a central role in that the schools are there for their benefit. Several issues stood out from the surveys but two were followed up in this study. The first is that there is considerable disquiet about national assessment (which controls inschool assessment practices). The second is that the students want to move away form the teacher-centred lecture approach to have opportunities to work in groups and discuss.In the light findings of these findings, the examination marks for a sample of 7022students in their final year of school was gained. The data were considered descriptively as well as being analysed using Factor Analysis. It was readily apparent that there are major issues to be addressed and that was perhaps what the students were drawing attention to in the surveys. Firstly, the examination papers are far too easy, with little opportunity for students to show their abilities. Secondly, the factor analyses showed that all the subject examinations merely tested one skill, a scrutiny of papers showingthat was recall. In order to explore the potential role of group working in schools, a sample of 817 students in three age-groups in secondary school undertook a short series of short group-work problem solving exercises in one subject discipline. Student performance as well as their reactions were measured. It was found that there were some advantages in understanding arising from the use of such units but the effects were not universally beneficial for all of the units used. Student reactions tended to be positive but not overwhelmingly so.The main findings revealed that there is a major lack of consistency and sharedunderstanding between those who take the decisions in education (and thedocumentation they generate) and the realities of what goes on in schools (as reflected by teachers and learners). There is a need to focus on the learners, their experiences, their achievements and their needs as they move out into higher education or the workplace. There is a need to widen the range of skills being assessed and to develop resources to enable these skills to grow. Above all, the role of quality assurance in Bahrain has to be one that empowers the teachers rather that inspects them and criticises, often on matters over which teachers have no control.

Esta dissertação analisa as articulações da disputa por hegemonia com julgamentos sobre o significado de qualidade da educação de alunos de uma escola municipal e de uma escola privada de Porto Alegre. O trabalho vincula-se ao campo da Sociologia da Educação na medida em que se interessa pelo estudo da estabilidade e da mudança da hegemonia e suas relações com a realidade educacional. Para tal estudo, considera-se necessária a operação de complexa teoria, utilizando-se os conceitos de ideologia, articulação e hegemonia, além de complexa metodologia, optando-se por uma análise relacional. Este estudo toma alunos como público de pesquisa para incluir julgamentos daqueles que são atendidos pela educação no debate sobre a educação. Estes são julgamentos sobre um tema específico: a qualidade. A opção por estudar os julgamentos dos alunos sobre esta palavra decorre de que ela tem sido considerada o eixo fora do qual não tem sido possível o diálogo sobre avanços educacionais, independentemente do que signifique. A partir do entendimento bakhtiniano de que a disputa pelo significado da palavra é o indicador preciso da disputa pela ideologia, analisa-se como se articulam os julgamentos dos alunos sobre o que é qualidade, para que se possa compreender então a ideologia. Relaciona-se, assim, a ideologia presente nos julgamentos dos alunos com a hegemonia, e se a relaciona com as condições sociais específicas dos alunos. Neste sentido, a opção por alunos de uma escola privada e de uma escola municipal advém do interesse de entender como a questão de classe, bem como os projetos pedagógicos das escolas, influencia nos seus julgamentos. Os dados obtidos apontaram como os alunos, ao mesmo tempo que interagem com as influências de seus contextos específicos e com a hegemonia, ativamente rearticulam sentidos e constituem julgamentos ideológicos sobre o que é qualidade. As diferentes formas como a noção de qualidade é interpretada, nos cenários pesquisados, e as possibilidades de confronto a noções vinculadas à hegemonia de mercado, articuladas nos julgamentos, apontam para o caráter histórico e instável da hegemonia na educação. / The present thesis aims at analysing the articulations of the dispute for hegemony with judgements about the meaning of quality in education from students from a municipal and a private school in Porto Alegre. This research is linked to the field of Sociology of Education in that it is interested in the study of stability and change of hegemony and its relations to educational reality. For this task, complex theory operation is required, and, in this sense, ideology, articulation and hegemony are key concepts here. Also, complex methodology is important for this complex enterprise, and relational analysis is also basal in this study. This investigation takes students as its research public, in order to include judgements of those who are the target in education in the debate of education. These are judgements about a specific matter: quality. The option for studying student’s judgements about this particular word stems from the fact it has been considered an axis outside which it has been impossible a dialogue about educational improvements, despite what it means. Based on the bakthinian understanding that the dispute for the meaning of a word indicates precisely the dispute for ideology, it is analysed how student’s judgements about quality are articulated, in order to understand ideology. So, ideology in their judgements is related to hegemony, and also to student’s specific social conditions. In this sense, the option for students from a private and a municipal school comes from an interest in understanding how the matter of class, as well as the pedagogic projects from each school, influences their judgements. Data obtained indicates how, at the same time students interact with the influences of their specific contexts and with hegemony, they actively rearticulate meanings and constitute ideological judgements about quality. The different ways the notion of quality is interpreted, in the research field, and the possibilities of confrontation to notions linked to the hegemony of market, articulated in their judgements, point to the historic and unstable properties of hegemony in education.

Esta dissertação analisa as articulações da disputa por hegemonia com julgamentos sobre o significado de qualidade da educação de alunos de uma escola municipal e de uma escola privada de Porto Alegre. O trabalho vincula-se ao campo da Sociologia da Educação na medida em que se interessa pelo estudo da estabilidade e da mudança da hegemonia e suas relações com a realidade educacional. Para tal estudo, considera-se necessária a operação de complexa teoria, utilizando-se os conceitos de ideologia, articulação e hegemonia, além de complexa metodologia, optando-se por uma análise relacional. Este estudo toma alunos como público de pesquisa para incluir julgamentos daqueles que são atendidos pela educação no debate sobre a educação. Estes são julgamentos sobre um tema específico: a qualidade. A opção por estudar os julgamentos dos alunos sobre esta palavra decorre de que ela tem sido considerada o eixo fora do qual não tem sido possível o diálogo sobre avanços educacionais, independentemente do que signifique. A partir do entendimento bakhtiniano de que a disputa pelo significado da palavra é o indicador preciso da disputa pela ideologia, analisa-se como se articulam os julgamentos dos alunos sobre o que é qualidade, para que se possa compreender então a ideologia. Relaciona-se, assim, a ideologia presente nos julgamentos dos alunos com a hegemonia, e se a relaciona com as condições sociais específicas dos alunos. Neste sentido, a opção por alunos de uma escola privada e de uma escola municipal advém do interesse de entender como a questão de classe, bem como os projetos pedagógicos das escolas, influencia nos seus julgamentos. Os dados obtidos apontaram como os alunos, ao mesmo tempo que interagem com as influências de seus contextos específicos e com a hegemonia, ativamente rearticulam sentidos e constituem julgamentos ideológicos sobre o que é qualidade. As diferentes formas como a noção de qualidade é interpretada, nos cenários pesquisados, e as possibilidades de confronto a noções vinculadas à hegemonia de mercado, articuladas nos julgamentos, apontam para o caráter histórico e instável da hegemonia na educação. / The present thesis aims at analysing the articulations of the dispute for hegemony with judgements about the meaning of quality in education from students from a municipal and a private school in Porto Alegre. This research is linked to the field of Sociology of Education in that it is interested in the study of stability and change of hegemony and its relations to educational reality. For this task, complex theory operation is required, and, in this sense, ideology, articulation and hegemony are key concepts here. Also, complex methodology is important for this complex enterprise, and relational analysis is also basal in this study. This investigation takes students as its research public, in order to include judgements of those who are the target in education in the debate of education. These are judgements about a specific matter: quality. The option for studying student’s judgements about this particular word stems from the fact it has been considered an axis outside which it has been impossible a dialogue about educational improvements, despite what it means. Based on the bakthinian understanding that the dispute for the meaning of a word indicates precisely the dispute for ideology, it is analysed how student’s judgements about quality are articulated, in order to understand ideology. So, ideology in their judgements is related to hegemony, and also to student’s specific social conditions. In this sense, the option for students from a private and a municipal school comes from an interest in understanding how the matter of class, as well as the pedagogic projects from each school, influences their judgements. Data obtained indicates how, at the same time students interact with the influences of their specific contexts and with hegemony, they actively rearticulate meanings and constitute ideological judgements about quality. The different ways the notion of quality is interpreted, in the research field, and the possibilities of confrontation to notions linked to the hegemony of market, articulated in their judgements, point to the historic and unstable properties of hegemony in education.

Esta dissertação analisa as articulações da disputa por hegemonia com julgamentos sobre o significado de qualidade da educação de alunos de uma escola municipal e de uma escola privada de Porto Alegre. O trabalho vincula-se ao campo da Sociologia da Educação na medida em que se interessa pelo estudo da estabilidade e da mudança da hegemonia e suas relações com a realidade educacional. Para tal estudo, considera-se necessária a operação de complexa teoria, utilizando-se os conceitos de ideologia, articulação e hegemonia, além de complexa metodologia, optando-se por uma análise relacional. Este estudo toma alunos como público de pesquisa para incluir julgamentos daqueles que são atendidos pela educação no debate sobre a educação. Estes são julgamentos sobre um tema específico: a qualidade. A opção por estudar os julgamentos dos alunos sobre esta palavra decorre de que ela tem sido considerada o eixo fora do qual não tem sido possível o diálogo sobre avanços educacionais, independentemente do que signifique. A partir do entendimento bakhtiniano de que a disputa pelo significado da palavra é o indicador preciso da disputa pela ideologia, analisa-se como se articulam os julgamentos dos alunos sobre o que é qualidade, para que se possa compreender então a ideologia. Relaciona-se, assim, a ideologia presente nos julgamentos dos alunos com a hegemonia, e se a relaciona com as condições sociais específicas dos alunos. Neste sentido, a opção por alunos de uma escola privada e de uma escola municipal advém do interesse de entender como a questão de classe, bem como os projetos pedagógicos das escolas, influencia nos seus julgamentos. Os dados obtidos apontaram como os alunos, ao mesmo tempo que interagem com as influências de seus contextos específicos e com a hegemonia, ativamente rearticulam sentidos e constituem julgamentos ideológicos sobre o que é qualidade. As diferentes formas como a noção de qualidade é interpretada, nos cenários pesquisados, e as possibilidades de confronto a noções vinculadas à hegemonia de mercado, articuladas nos julgamentos, apontam para o caráter histórico e instável da hegemonia na educação. / The present thesis aims at analysing the articulations of the dispute for hegemony with judgements about the meaning of quality in education from students from a municipal and a private school in Porto Alegre. This research is linked to the field of Sociology of Education in that it is interested in the study of stability and change of hegemony and its relations to educational reality. For this task, complex theory operation is required, and, in this sense, ideology, articulation and hegemony are key concepts here. Also, complex methodology is important for this complex enterprise, and relational analysis is also basal in this study. This investigation takes students as its research public, in order to include judgements of those who are the target in education in the debate of education. These are judgements about a specific matter: quality. The option for studying student’s judgements about this particular word stems from the fact it has been considered an axis outside which it has been impossible a dialogue about educational improvements, despite what it means. Based on the bakthinian understanding that the dispute for the meaning of a word indicates precisely the dispute for ideology, it is analysed how student’s judgements about quality are articulated, in order to understand ideology. So, ideology in their judgements is related to hegemony, and also to student’s specific social conditions. In this sense, the option for students from a private and a municipal school comes from an interest in understanding how the matter of class, as well as the pedagogic projects from each school, influences their judgements. Data obtained indicates how, at the same time students interact with the influences of their specific contexts and with hegemony, they actively rearticulate meanings and constitute ideological judgements about quality. The different ways the notion of quality is interpreted, in the research field, and the possibilities of confrontation to notions linked to the hegemony of market, articulated in their judgements, point to the historic and unstable properties of hegemony in education.

This dissertation considers corruption and education in Iraqi Kurdistan. The sample comes from survey interviews conducted at nineteen universities in the three Kurdistan cities of Duhok, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. The survey was administered between May and July of 2017. The survey focuses on couple areas: students’ basic demographic information as well as characteristics associated with their personal education such as GPA and field of study; perceptions regarding the quality of education in Kurdistan, not only at the university level but in an individual’s schooling at lower levels; the quality of the Iraqi Kurdistan government, including the prevalence of different types of corruption; and students’ expectations for their future prospects, including their expectation of receiving a high ranking government job. 957 surveys were completed. In Chapter 1, we consider corruption in Iraqi Kurdistan from university students perspectives. We provide three sets of results. The first shows how perceptions of corruption differ across different demographic characteristics. A second set looks at how corruption differs based on one’s city. A final set of results considers how perceptions of corruption differ across political parties. Our results suggest that corruption perceptions do not vary across most individual characteristics as few strong associations are uncovered. Family income is an exception with higher income families reporting greater incidences of corruption. Students, however, living in different cities do report different levels of corruption. One possibility is that corruption is more prevalent in Duhok and so attention at diminishing corruption should focus there. We also find that students not belonging to any political party report lower levels of corruption. Chapter 2, we examine associations between corruption and measures of educational quality but take a different approach than do others in this literature. I use a sample of university students and examine how their views of corruption within society relate to their perceptions of the quality of education they have received. The quality of education (QEDUC) measure is constructed similarly to the quality of education component of the human capital index from World Economic Forum (2013). The quality of education has five criteria: internet access in schools, quality of the education system in meeting the needs of a competitive economy; quality of primary schools; quality of math and science education; and administrative quality of schools. I use this index since it encompasses a wide variety of characteristics of the education system. We found that Internet access is strongly associated with corruption. The other aspect of educational quality most strongly associated with corruption is the extent to which education prepares one for a competitive economy. Although students do not generally associate corruption with specific components of their education like math or primary school, they do believe that corruption is impacting how well they educational system is preparing them beyond their days as students. Finally, in chapter 3, we consider to what extent self-reported political affiliation matters for expectations of university students in Iraqi Kurdistan anticipating public sector employment. The sample data was gathered from students I interviewed at nineteen universities in the Kurdish cities of Duhok, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. The survey was administered between May and July of 2017.The survey focuses on four areas: students’ basic demographic information as well as characteristics associated with their personal education such as GPA and field of study; perceptions regarding the quality of education in Kurdistan, not only at the university level but in an individual’s schooling at lower levels; the quality of the Iraqi Kurdistan government, including the prevalence of different types of corruption; and students’ expectations for their future prospects, including their expectation of receiving a high ranking government job. 957 surveys were completed. We find that party affiliation appears to influence one’s expectation of obtaining a good government job after graduating. As long as party affiliation does not correlate with attributes that increase productivity in public employment, then party affiliation is a characteristic not based on merit. the specific party to which one is affiliated does not seem to matter as much. The PDK is the largest party in the KRI but students in smaller parties such as the PKK are more likely to believe that they will find good public-sector jobs (although less can be said about members of the Goran Party). Nevertheless, we hope that these findings provide at least a first approach as to what extent party affiliation could matter in hiring.

Research Purpose: This study aims to build a new model of quality for education based on a Saudi-British consensus regarding the major factors contributing to education quality and after considering other models (such as EFQM) and other authors’ perspectives. Research Methodology: The research relies on realism philosophy and as a multiple case study with 15 cases, it utilises a mainly qualitative research design that employs semi-structured interview as its research instruments. This study has adopted an ‘Inductive’ approach to build a new model. Primary data in this study was collected by interviewing 33 Saudi and 30 British academics and higher education authorities from six Saudi and nine British universities. Content Analysis was used for analysis. Research Findings: While the degree of agreement with each of the 11 propositions was varied (a range from totally agree to totally disagree), all of the Saudi and British participants believe that eleven pillars/criteria of quality education are: Leadership and Strategic Management; Students, Academics and Staff Recruitment; Syllabus/ Curriculum; Research/Teaching; Pedagogy; Learning & research support; Knowledge management; Academics’ achievements; Students’ progress, success & satisfaction; Universities/Schools’ achievements; and Innovation and Change Management. Recommendations: Decision makers in education sector are recommended to consider all eleven identified factors and their connection to each other while developing policies for quality of education. Universities and other educational institutes should plan and allocate required budgets for implementation and maintenance of all aspects of quality in education. Research Contributions: The main contribution of this research is developing the 'Education Quality Model’. Although there has been some research regarding the quality of education, seemingly they have not led to the development of a research-based customised model such as the Education Quality Model. Another contribution is preparing a new and broad ‘Taxonomy of Quality’. In previous taxonomies, either the only focus is on education or in contrast, education is missing in these taxonomies. Furthermore, possibly for the first time, perspectives of Saudi academics are presented alongside their British counterparts regarding quality of education.

Thesis advisor: Richard A. McGowan / This paper examines the discrepancies in the finance of public education across the United States in order to determine how particular funding schemes affect the quality and efficiency of education. Local governments have been the principal provider of funds for education in the past, but debate over equitable schooling for all students has led to several changes in the structure of education finance. In order to construct an encompassing measure of educational quality, a model based on Morgan and Morgan (2006) is used to assign each state a quality rating. Regression analysis helps establish the effect of various monetary variables on educational quality. There are clear patterns in the data which suggest that both the total amount of funds provided and the proportion of funds provided by each level of the government influence the quality of education. In addition, personal income and the percent of the population living below the poverty line prove to be key determinants of educational quality. It is my hope that this paper contributes to the work on the finance of public education and the work that aims to improve the quality of education in the United States. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program.

A inclusão social, a mitigação das desigualdades e os altos rendimentos são aspectos desafiadores na educação de alunos menos favorecidos. Esse trabalho relata a adoção de uma proposta criada pela Universidade de Barcelona, as Comunidades de Aprendizagem, por uma escola destinada a alunos de uma comunidade popular de São Paulo que, em seus cursos regulares, recebe alunos com alto poder aquisitivo. Esse trabalho, busca evidenciar se uma das atividades sugeridas, os Grupos Interativos, conseguem incrementar a participação dos pais na escola, explicitar a eles as altas expectativas da escola em relação ao desempenho das crianças e adolescentes, bem como contribuir para que todos os atores escolares, e em particular os professores aprendam também mais sobre a comunidade que atendem. Além disso, procura evidenciar o clima educacional da escola, e como ele influencia no êxito do programa. / Social inclusion, mitigation of inequalities and high performances are challenging aspects in the education of less previleged students. This paper reports the adoption of a proposal created by the University of Barcelona, the Learning Communities, by a school for students of a popular community in São Paulo, that receives students with high purchasing power in its regular courses. This work, seeks to highlight if one of the suggested activities, Interactive Groups, is able to increase the participation of parents in school, to explain to them the high expectations of the school in relation to the performance of children and adolescents, as well as to contribute so that all the school actors, and in particular teachers will also learn more about the community they serve. In addition, it seeks to evidence the educational climate of the school, and how it influences the success of the program.